#250 - Neel Vasavada

Neel Vasavada is the founder and president of Overdrive Energy Solutions. Neel is a driving force in the movement to bring green technology to the events industry. His engineering background and experience with both sustainable energy and live entertainment business development has led him to found Overdrive Energy Solutions with his co-founder Jahn "BOXER" Hardison. In 2003 he founded Apex Speed Technology, a provider of control systems and engineering consulting for prototype, research & development and motorsports vehicle projects, Customers included early-stage Telsa, Zero Electric Motorcycles & The US Department of Energy. Neel has also led business development for capital equipment suppliers and tech companies in live events since 2012. He led eps america - one of North America’s fastest growing production equipment suppliers of the last decade. Overdrive has become a leader in sustainable energy for live events. In 2023 a partnership with sustainability non-profit Reverb.org resulted in the 2 largest solar powered stages in US history. The first was Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion, which reduced fossil fuel use for stage power by 95%. In August, Overdrive made history with the largest temporary solar field ever for a US festival, powering parts of Billie Elish’s headlining set at Lollapalooza Chicago. Overdrive has also provided power at notable events and venues such as Coachella, Google's I/O developer conference and Dodger Stadium, with over 2.5MWh of energy deployed. Moving forward, Neel is committed to developing cost-efficient, reliable and clean energy systems for live events - and beyond. This episode was brought to you by Act Entertainment/ Ultimate Support Systems and GearSource.
00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:06,640
Thanks for coming today to
episode #250 with Neil Vasavista
2
00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,680
and you're in for a treat.
It was a great episode, a lot of
3
00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,320
fun to record.
He is an incredibly smart guy.
4
00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,640
I really didn't expect, I didn't
know what to expect, to be
5
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:19,920
honest.
But to get a guy with a
6
00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,360
background like Neil has coming
into the live events business,
7
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,560
to bring that background with
him, just an incredible guy,
8
00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,400
smart guy.
And what he's doing with the
9
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,800
sustainable power system and
being able to power up these
10
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,320
festivals completely using
battery technology, He's just,
11
00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:44,160
he's that far ahead of everybody
else out there.
12
00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:46,000
So I think you'll really enjoy
it.
13
00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,560
I hope you do.
I enjoyed recording it.
14
00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:54,520
And so enjoy and learn a lot
about battery power systems as
15
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,280
you go through it.
So have fun.
16
00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:04,239
Hi, and thanks for joining today
on Geese of Gear episode #250.
17
00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,280
This podcast is brought to you
by Ultimate Support Systems, a
18
00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,640
part of ACT Entertainment, the
BCM 300, which I'm using right
19
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,280
here.
This boom is a deluxe broadcast
20
00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,440
mic stand from Ultimate Support,
bringing fluid functionality and
21
00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,360
quality of life features
together in a single sleek
22
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,000
design, offering a fully
extended 37 inch length cable
23
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:31,320
management channel and clips and
an extended drop to better serve
24
00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:36,680
popular mic solutions including
the sure SM 7B the and of course
25
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,760
the Rode pod mic, which I'm
using right here.
26
00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,760
The BCM 300 is both the most
fully featured and most
27
00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,560
attractive broadcast mic boom in
its price range.
28
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,000
Get a mic stand that supports
your investment and looks as
29
00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,920
good as you sound on podcasts,
live streams and conference
30
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,400
calls.
You can learn more about the BCM
31
00:01:55,400 --> 00:02:02,520
range of stands at
www.ultimatesupport.com and this
32
00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,000
podcast is also brought to you
by Gear Source.
33
00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,160
Founded in 2002 with an
ambitious cition to support live
34
00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,640
events, businesses buy and sell
gear globally.
35
00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,880
Since that time, the company has
transacted in more than 100
36
00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,600
countries, selling 1/4 billion
dollars in sound, lighting,
37
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,160
staging and video gear.
Gearsource continues to evolve
38
00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,400
the platform for massive global
growth, enabling localized
39
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,440
currencies, payments held in
escrow to protect buyers and
40
00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,800
sellers.
Yeah, I powered logistics behind
41
00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:33,280
a new global logistics brand and
more.
42
00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,960
And by the way, we have updates
this week with some of the bulk
43
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:44,360
listings management features.
Throughout 2024 and beyond, the
44
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,200
company will continue to grow
its toolbox for the benefit of
45
00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,240
users worldwide.
So why not take full control
46
00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:54,400
over your gear with a visit
gearsource.com.
47
00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,720
It's funny, I still bought my
head during that intro song.
48
00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,920
I love Godo, I love the song.
And by the way, Godo's up to
49
00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:31,480
some fun things.
Right now.
50
00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:36,640
He's remastering I think his
entire catalog with Kramer,
51
00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:38,760
Eddie Kramer, which should be
incredible.
52
00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,240
He's doing these sort of up
close and uncomfortable shows
53
00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,520
where he's doing very intimate
shows where it's a combination
54
00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,920
of storytelling, comedy and
playing music.
55
00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:55,040
And he's really doing well with
those and selling out every
56
00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:56,640
venue.
They're all small venues, little
57
00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,800
theaters, little, you know, not
coffee houses, but, you know,
58
00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,360
couple 100 people kind of thing.
And sometimes it includes dinner
59
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,160
and stuff.
But Greg Gotovitz, one of my
60
00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:08,120
favorite people, love the guy to
death.
61
00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:12,480
One of my best friends and just
a super guy, talented musician
62
00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,640
and a Beatles formationalist
extraordinaire, historian.
63
00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,640
You know, he knows more about
The Beatles and really rock
64
00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,880
history, just music history.
That guy is a walking
65
00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,480
encyclopedia and I'm actually
going to have him on again soon.
66
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,360
He just doesn't really know how
to work a computer very well.
67
00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:34,520
So we have to wait until his
lovely woman is available to set
68
00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,880
him up to record on a computer.
And so that should happen
69
00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,800
anytime soon here.
I know Sarah's been working with
70
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,840
him and his team, AKA his woman.
And so, yeah, I'm looking
71
00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:47,960
forward to getting that done
because I love the guy and and
72
00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,880
he's just fun to talk to.
So of course, I'm up in Canada.
73
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,680
I'm at my house in Canada.
You can tell from the
74
00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,280
background.
It's different from my
75
00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:56,440
background in Florida, which is
actually quite boring.
76
00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,480
And actually, that Beatles
picture right behind me there
77
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,280
came to me from Greg Godevitz.
He gave it to me as a gift when
78
00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,000
he came to visit one time.
But I had my 60th birthday up
79
00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,320
here, which has been really
weird.
80
00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,880
You know, I know we all turned
60 at some point, if we're lucky
81
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,400
enough.
And my father passed away at 52,
82
00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,440
a long, long time ago.
So don't say oh, I'm sorry
83
00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:22,680
because it really was a long,
long time ago.
84
00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:25,760
But you know, so I consider
myself lucky.
85
00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,440
I've already outlived him by 8
years.
86
00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,200
And I'm pretty healthy right
now.
87
00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,520
I think the healthiest I've been
probably since I was 15.
88
00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,600
And you know, pretty clean
living, lots of exercise,
89
00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,160
relatively good diet, I wouldn't
say perfect, but pretty good
90
00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,800
diet.
So I'm taking care of myself.
91
00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,600
However, at my 60th birthday
party, I got sick.
92
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,040
And so, you know, I was in bed
by 9:30 at night and didn't wake
93
00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,720
up for two days or get up for
two days and I'm still sick.
94
00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,800
So like, I don't know, going on
two weeks, It'll be two weeks in
95
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,000
a couple of days that I've had
this thing.
96
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,320
And I don't know if it was COVID
or the flu or a cold, but I
97
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,560
think probably COVID just based
on the fact that it kind of
98
00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,640
started as a real heavy fever
and massive headache and just
99
00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:11,840
body aches and everything else,
like a flu.
100
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,040
And then it kind of went down
into my chest where massive
101
00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,440
coughs and sore throat and all
that stuff to now where it's
102
00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,040
just this long nagging cough and
stuffy head.
103
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,640
You know, like at night I can't
breathe through my nose.
104
00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:30,360
And during the day I'm coughing
and right on cue.
105
00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,080
And, you know, just this raspy
voice and stuff, which some
106
00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:35,800
people would say is incredibly
sexy.
107
00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,400
Not me So.
But anyways, turning 60 has been
108
00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,920
interesting, you know, a lot of
reflecting, a lot of thinking
109
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,280
about where I'm at in my life,
where I wish I was at, where I
110
00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:50,440
want to be at, where I might
have thought I'd be at by now,
111
00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:53,360
what I thought I might be doing.
And guess what?
112
00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,680
Throw that stuff all out the
window and just keep enjoying
113
00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:57,080
life.
So that's what I'm doing right
114
00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:58,840
now.
I'm living everyday like it's a
115
00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,520
gift and trying to do my best,
trying to be good to other
116
00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:06,400
people, trying to be grateful.
And I reach out to a lot more
117
00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:07,760
people.
You know, the Craig thing was
118
00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,080
definitely another, it should be
unnecessary wake up call for a
119
00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,360
guy who just turned 60, who's
most of my friends are either in
120
00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,720
their 60s or coming up on 60 now
too.
121
00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,440
And a lot of them are less
healthy than me too.
122
00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,840
So, you know, I'm talking to
people as much as I can now and,
123
00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:26,440
and trying to make sure I reach
out to people.
124
00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:28,080
I don't want to miss that
opportunity.
125
00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,960
And I, I don't think I ever told
this story again back to Craig.
126
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,000
So the night before the F1 race,
which was my last day with
127
00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,520
Craig, he called me and I was
kind of like humming and Hahn.
128
00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,680
I was kind of, you know, I've
been at race tracks for the last
129
00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:47,560
13 or 14 years with my son.
I love being there, but I'd
130
00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,480
rather watch it on television.
When it comes down to actually
131
00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,160
watching a car race.
And, and the problem is with car
132
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,160
races, you know, it's about a
minute and 32nd lap.
133
00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,520
Each time they go around, the
car goes by, you don't see it
134
00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,720
again for a minute and 1/2.
And even at the F1 race that I
135
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,800
went to with Craig, we ended up
watching most of it on the
136
00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,440
televisions in our beautifully
air conditioned suite that we
137
00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,800
were in.
And so, you know, I was kind of
138
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,800
like, I don't really feel like
dealing with traffic and all the
139
00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,400
people and being at the track
and it's such a shit show.
140
00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,480
And but I really wanted to see
Craig.
141
00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,640
There was something nagging at
me saying do it.
142
00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,880
You gotta go to this.
And so I pushed myself and said,
143
00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:28,480
yeah.
And I know everybody's rolling
144
00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,080
their eyes right now going, what
a douche.
145
00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,840
You know, you couldn't decide if
you wanted to go to the Miami
146
00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,960
Grand Prix, the F1 race of all
F1 races and all this stuff.
147
00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,679
And, you know, again, I'm not
saying I'm special, but I'm
148
00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:45,480
hardened, jaded, whatever you
want to call it.
149
00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,760
I've been around race tracks an
awful lot for the last 1314
150
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,360
years.
And another day at a racetrack
151
00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,760
just to see a race that I could
watch on television in two
152
00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,440
hours.
It's just not worth it to me.
153
00:08:57,560 --> 00:08:59,880
So it was all about seeing
Craig, hanging out with Craig.
154
00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,760
And also my son wanted to go,
Jeremy wanted to go to the race.
155
00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,880
So I am so happy.
Like, I almost made a decision
156
00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,960
that literally would have
haunted me for the rest of my
157
00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,080
life.
And so I'm so happy I made that
158
00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,040
decision.
So anyways, what else?
159
00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,920
Here in Canada, weird weather.
So a couple of days ago, which
160
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:25,640
would have been June 17th, we
had fairly massive snowfall
161
00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,360
snow.
So I looked out the window at, I
162
00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,040
don't know, 8:00 at night or
something, 9:00 at night.
163
00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,000
And sure enough, huge snowflakes
were coming down like crazy.
164
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,920
And the next morning there was
snow on the trees, snow on the
165
00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,400
ground.
And we were just like, wow, this
166
00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,000
is weird.
You know, June 17th, 18th and,
167
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,360
and there's snow coming down and
it's been pretty cold like this
168
00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:50,080
morning.
What's the date today, June
169
00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,040
19th?
35° when?
170
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,080
When I got up and and went
upstairs.
171
00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,200
And so it's not not really
summer weather quite yet, but I
172
00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:01,160
don't mind it.
I love it.
173
00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,240
I love being able to wear some
of my jackets and stuff.
174
00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,240
It's fun.
And of course, in other news,
175
00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:09,800
the Panthers are currently
playing the Edmonton Oilers and
176
00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,160
I'm in enemy territory, which is
really weird because it used to
177
00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,360
be where anything South of
Edmonton in Alberta hated the
178
00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,360
Oilers.
And in Edmonton they love their
179
00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,720
Oilers, of course.
And but right now it's not just
180
00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,560
all of Alberta, it's all of
Canada going for the Oilers.
181
00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:28,680
So I'm the enemy.
I'm a Panthers fan.
182
00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:31,760
I'm I've got my Panthers hoodie
and Panthers shirts and stuff.
183
00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,040
And so I'm not super popular
right now.
184
00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,520
And unfortunately the Panthers
are kind of making a mess of it.
185
00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:40,280
They went up three games to
none.
186
00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,760
It was a foregone conclusion
that they were going to finish
187
00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:44,720
probably in Edmonton in the
fourth game.
188
00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,320
And lo and behold, Edmonton
blows us out in game four-game
189
00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,600
5, Edmonton looked like they
were going to blow us out again.
190
00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:55,000
And then the Panthers came back
but lost it.
191
00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,280
So now we're still up 3:00 to
2:00, but we go back to
192
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,200
Edmonton.
And I'm just hoping it doesn't
193
00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,760
go seven games.
Like certainly the television
194
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,640
networks and the league and
everybody hopes it goes seven
195
00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,640
games and then God forbid, the
Panthers win at home.
196
00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:14,480
But I don't know.
My, my little ticker can't take
197
00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:16,640
it.
You know, I, I want him to just
198
00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,880
get it over with so I can get on
with my life now the market,
199
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,800
the, the sound lighting, video
live events market is still so
200
00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,040
crazy busy.
You know, it's like a lot of our
201
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,040
top sellers and new sellers and
stuff, they're all like, hey, I
202
00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,800
really want to sell this stuff,
but everything I have is out
203
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,280
right now.
So can we figure out a way to
204
00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,480
maybe sell it and deliver it in
September or sell it starting in
205
00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,640
August and deliver it in
September or whatever?
206
00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:45,440
And honestly, that's the smart
way to do things.
207
00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,760
Like a lot of companies are
sitting back saying, hey, we're
208
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,440
too busy right now to sell any
gear.
209
00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:54,120
And, you know, that's like
saying, you know, I'm too busy
210
00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,920
to exercise or I'm too busy to
make a salad for lunch.
211
00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,680
I'm just going to have a burger
and French fries from the fast
212
00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:02,320
food joint down the street
instead.
213
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,120
You know, just because it serves
the purpose and gets you past
214
00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,600
that short term problem doesn't
mean that it's good for you.
215
00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,200
And the same goes with your
inventory.
216
00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,280
You should be managing your
inventory all the time.
217
00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,320
And I know some of you listening
are probably going, this doesn't
218
00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,440
involve me.
I don't manage inventory.
219
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,240
Sorry.
I'm not going to take long.
220
00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:28,240
But I do really stress on the
good habits of always turning
221
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:29,960
over inventory.
And one of my favorite people in
222
00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,640
the industry, Mike Cannon and
Bob Cannon, who who started this
223
00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,400
process and taught Mike, they
sell gear while it's still new.
224
00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,600
Basically, they sell gear while
it's young.
225
00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,840
They don't wait until it's on
its last legs or or gone out of
226
00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,520
fashion or whatever.
They're selling the latest
227
00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:48,800
version and people are like, why
are they selling that?
228
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,360
It's the hottest thing going
right now because they're going
229
00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:53,840
to replace it with either the
same thing or maybe the new
230
00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,320
version of it or whatever.
But that's a healthy business,
231
00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,760
you know, continually upgrading,
replacing, renewing your
232
00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:02,480
inventory, refreshing your
inventory.
233
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,040
It's also good for your
financials.
234
00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,760
And I won't get into that right
now, but it is turning over your
235
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:08,640
assets is very good for your
financials.
236
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,080
And so, you know, even though
you're really busy right now and
237
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,440
everything's out, let's have a
conversation, you know, connect
238
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,360
with my team, We'll have a
conversation about how we can
239
00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,440
start planning to sell off some
of your inventory in August or
240
00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,080
September.
Even though you're using it full
241
00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,800
time right now, it's 100%
utilized.
242
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,720
You're going to jump the queue.
You're basically come September,
243
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,000
everybody's going to have
warehouses full of stuff that
244
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:38,320
they're looking to dump.
And if you can jump in in July
245
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,560
or August instead, you're going
to do really well.
246
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,120
And then lastly, Please remember
to like and subscribe to our
247
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:46,440
podcast.
It helps a lot.
248
00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,800
Sarah's working really hard to
get it to gain a following on,
249
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,480
on YouTube, on Meta, on even
Tiktok.
250
00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,240
She's got all kinds of stuff
going on on Tiktok, but liking
251
00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,440
and subscribing really, really
helps us.
252
00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,200
I would appreciate it if you did
it.
253
00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:05,280
And yeah, so that's all about
that.
254
00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:09,720
Now on to today's guest.
Today's guest is Neil.
255
00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,280
Oh, God, I'm going to screw this
up.
256
00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:12,200
Neil.
I'm so sorry.
257
00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:17,360
Neil Vasavada, who is the
founder and president of
258
00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,840
OverDrive Energy Solutions.
Neil is the driving force in the
259
00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,440
movement to bring green
technology to the events
260
00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,960
industry.
His engineering background and
261
00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:32,800
experience with both sustainable
energy and live entertainment
262
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:38,360
development has led him to found
OverDrive Energy Solutions.
263
00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,720
Along with his Co founder John
Boxer Hardison OverDrive has
264
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,480
become a leader in sustainable
energy for live events.
265
00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,240
In 2023, a partnership with
Sustainability Non Profit
266
00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:55,880
reverb.org resulted in the two
largest solar powered stages in
267
00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,280
U.S. history.
The first was Willie Nelson's
268
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,880
Luck Reunion, which we've spoken
about on here with Richard
269
00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:06,480
Cadena, which reduced fossil
fuel use for stage power by 95%.
270
00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,600
In August, OverDrive made
history with the largest
271
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,840
temporary solar field ever for
AUS Festival, powering parts of
272
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,440
Billy Eilish's headlining set at
Lollapalooza Chicago.
273
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,760
OverDrive has also provided
power at notable events and
274
00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,800
venues such as Coachella,
Google's IO Developer Conference
275
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:31,720
and Dodger Stadium with over 2.5
million, sorry, 2.5 MW hours of
276
00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,400
energy deployed.
Moving forward, Neil is
277
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:38,360
committed to developing cost
efficient, liable and clean
278
00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,040
energy systems for live events
and beyond.
279
00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:49,760
So please join me in welcoming
Neil to the podcast, ladies and
280
00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,280
gentlemen, Neil Vasavada.
And I think I might have almost
281
00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,920
gotten that right in the in the
intro.
282
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,920
But how you doing, Neil?
You did and I'm doing well.
283
00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,760
Thank you.
Yeah, good.
284
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,000
Well, I appreciate you doing
this.
285
00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,920
This this has sort of been in
the works ever since Richard
286
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:12,920
Kadena's most recent recording
on this podcast where, I mean,
287
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,920
he probably spent 30 minutes
talking about the Willie Nelson
288
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:20,880
thing and how well it went and
how he even had some fears and
289
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,040
things, you know, where we
better have a lot of diesel
290
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,360
generators in the background
just in case this implodes on
291
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,880
us.
And so I guess we'll talk a
292
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:33,320
little bit about that today.
But so you know, Neil, as I said
293
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,920
in the intro, and I kind of read
your bio, so you're the founder
294
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:39,280
and president of OverDrive
Energy Solutions.
295
00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:41,480
Co founder.
OK.
296
00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,240
And so energy, what would you
say is sort of the elevator
297
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,760
pitch of of what OverDrive
energy Solutions is or does?
298
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:53,680
We're dedicated to reducing and
eventually eliminating the use
299
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:59,800
of diesel and gasoline and other
internal combustion engines in
300
00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,760
live events.
That's a that's a huge statement
301
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:09,040
And, and I know, yeah, yeah.
Well, and I know that that live
302
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,240
events has wanted this for a
while, not because they hate,
303
00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,520
you know, using generators or
whatever.
304
00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:16,560
I think in some cases that is
the case.
305
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,200
But I, I think everyone and, you
know, led by people like Billy
306
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,520
Eilish, who I know was, was a a
a huge advocate of, of this.
307
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,920
You know, they, they want more
sustainable tours and shows out
308
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,880
there, festivals, etcetera.
Correct.
309
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,320
Yeah, And Marissa, it's not just
about sustainability.
310
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:41,560
You know, let me start off by
saying that diesel generators
311
00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,480
are a terrible way to make
power.
312
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,160
Why is that?
Well, they're not reliable.
313
00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,080
They're only reliable in the
sense that we've had them for
314
00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,480
100 years.
But how often do we deploy twin
315
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,400
packs?
How often do we have cold
316
00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:57,320
backups?
In our world?
317
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,280
You would think that after a
century they could figure out a
318
00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,040
way to make this power source
absolutely bulletproof.
319
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,040
They're they're not particularly
efficient.
320
00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:11,000
They're not good at turning
diesel fuel into electricity.
321
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:15,400
The bleeding edge of technology
might have 40% of the energy
322
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,920
that's in that fuel actually
becomes electricity.
323
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,040
They're polluting.
The fumes aren't pleasant.
324
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,520
They, you know, they, there's,
there's not a whole lot going
325
00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,400
for them except the fact that
we've had them for so long that
326
00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,480
people know how to use them.
They understand them very well.
327
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:33,520
And I don't want to take that
away from them.
328
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,200
Familiarity is a big thing.
But let's see here, let's
329
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,080
compare diesel technology to
what we generally call
330
00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,400
electrification, right, which is
storing energy in some way and
331
00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:49,440
then deploying it.
The battery generator systems.
332
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,440
All right.
So the systems that that that we
333
00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:56,200
specifically are using to get
rid of diesel are what are
334
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,720
we're, we're calling battery
power stations or just sometimes
335
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,240
power stations.
And they, they have two
336
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,440
fundamental components that are
in every system.
337
00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,960
One is energy storage and the
other is an inverter.
338
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,600
And you can think of them like a
car.
339
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,720
You have an engine, that's your
inverter, that's how much power
340
00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:16,880
you can make.
That's what makes the power.
341
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,720
And then you have your gas tank,
which is your battery.
342
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,520
That is first where you store
that energy to make the power
343
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:31,120
and what you have to refuel in
pretty much every metric, every
344
00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,520
measurement that we use in the
live events world, whether it's
345
00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,440
actually, you know, a
qualitative number based or just
346
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:38,960
subjective, how we feel about
it.
347
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,480
The battery power station is a
better way to power our
348
00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,080
concerts.
It is fundamentally more
349
00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,640
reliable.
I think we conflate familiarity
350
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,000
and reliability a little bit
here, but the simple fact is
351
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,640
that that battery systems and
and inverter systems, they have
352
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,800
very few moving parts.
They operate at much lower
353
00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:04,240
temperatures and they're also
100 years old.
354
00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:07,200
They they've been around and
they've been in heavy, heavy,
355
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,400
heavy use.
Just not in our world.
356
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,640
The application is new, yeah,
not not the.
357
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:18,240
Technology, you know, they're
they're silent with, with modern
358
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,760
that the kinds of batteries that
we use, they can be placed very
359
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,880
close to the loads.
So you don't need to be further
360
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:26,280
away.
You know, in a lot of places you
361
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,640
need to be at least 20 feet away
from the load with the
362
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,640
generator, some places quite a
bit more.
363
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,840
You don't have to do that with
the battery system and they're
364
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:38,200
actually cost effective.
In fact, I believe that they
365
00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,400
should be cheaper than diesel
generators.
366
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:42,960
So there's there's a notion of
sustainable energy or
367
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,960
sustainability in general is a
cost adder that it's more
368
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:47,720
expensive.
That's another thing that, you
369
00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,600
know, we're really trying to
grasp the conversation around
370
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,760
that.
So we have this technology that
371
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:56,520
is actually cleaning.
It's more sustainable, obviously
372
00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:01,520
it's safer, it's more reliable,
it's actually cost effective
373
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:02,960
too.
And we'll get into that in a
374
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,240
little bit.
So what's the downside?
375
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,800
The downside is how long it
takes to fill the gas tank.
376
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,560
Yeah, that is it.
Well, just being devil's
377
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,520
advocate for a second, you know,
the couple of things that I've
378
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,520
heard brought up.
One is, is, you know, the source
379
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,080
of the components for the
batteries, you know, the fact
380
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,520
that little kids are shoeless
and, and, you know, digging in,
381
00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,360
in these mines in, in Africa and
stuff.
382
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,480
And secondly, the footprint
that, you know, although it's
383
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,400
more sustainable and it's, it's
very efficient and all of those
384
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,240
things, it's large, you know,
you need a lot of space, not
385
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,880
just for the batteries, but
maybe for if you're using a
386
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,240
solar farm to recharge the
batteries or whatever.
387
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,360
So what about those things?
Well, it's interesting, Marcel,
388
00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:52,200
see you, you just highlighted
two things.
389
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,320
The 1st is misinformation.
There's a lot of misinformation
390
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,000
and dated information about
technology out there.
391
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:03,280
So let's misinformation is
what's behind a lot of the the
392
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,000
the conversation on the safety
of batteries.
393
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,160
And isn't it funny that none of
that started until Elon Musk?
394
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,760
But but Twitter and pissed
everybody off and and then they
395
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,680
started turning him into Satan.
Well, no, because it was true
396
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,280
and it is true.
It is true that certain
397
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,800
batteries are made of toxic
chemicals that are rare in mind
398
00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:30,720
in in in questionable practices.
So the most common electric car
399
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,440
battery, and this is also
similar to I think batteries
400
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,480
that are in a lot of consumer
goods and stuff are called
401
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:41,640
lithium NMC, which is NMC stands
for nickel, manganese and
402
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:45,440
cobalt.
These chemicals are the ones
403
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,400
that are, you know, that that
have a lot of controversy around
404
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,880
them.
They are crucial in some
405
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,640
automotive batteries to allow
you to discharge and charge at
406
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,960
very high rates.
So, you know, they're still
407
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,240
pretty common in the electric
car world.
408
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,320
But the misinformation part,
first of all, the quantities of
409
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,920
these chemicals in the electric
car world and things like that
410
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:09,400
have dropped considerably over
the years to their they're a
411
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:10,920
fraction of what they were ten
years ago.
412
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,920
But actually none of that
matters because Marcel, the
413
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,520
batteries that we use, the
batteries that are ubiquitous,
414
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,040
the stationary energy storage
these days, which also happen to
415
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:27,560
do the batteries that are in the
standard range Teslas, I think
416
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,800
the Ford Mustang Mach E uses,
these kind of batteries are
417
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,680
called lithium iron phosphates.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries
418
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:39,360
have none of those chemicals.
They're 100% recyclable.
419
00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:43,560
In fact, they rewrite the book
on what you and other people
420
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,800
might be used to on batteries.
One of the first things is they
421
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:52,800
are, they have a very, very long
life span in our application.
422
00:23:53,080 --> 00:24:00,040
They last 10 to 20 years and and
it's not even accurate to say
423
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,160
they last 10 to 20 years.
The manufacturers rate them as
424
00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,640
the end of their service life
when they are at 80% of their
425
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,840
new capacity.
And as you know, batteries
426
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:16,160
degrade with time.
So, so really at the end of that
427
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:21,840
life cycle, they still have use,
you just have to add 20% more.
428
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:23,760
So you might want to use them in
an application, but they're not
429
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:28,320
moving from place to place.
They are also 100% recyclable.
430
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,720
They also don't have thermal
runaway issues.
431
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:37,320
So there's a very specific test,
UL9540A that is conducted to see
432
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:42,320
how a battery pack handles fire.
And we've all heard concerns
433
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,520
about electric vehicle fires.
And you know, once one of these
434
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,600
things get burning, the electric
vehicle, the NMC style packs,
435
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:52,000
it's really hard to put them
out.
436
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:57,680
That said, I think I, I don't
quote me on this 'cause I
437
00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:59,520
haven't seen the latest
statistics and I believe there's
438
00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:05,400
some new things out, but last I
saw, electric vehicles are like
439
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,280
they're, they're, they're 110th
or one 100th.
440
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,440
That's why you don't want, I
don't want, I'm not sure which
441
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,000
one it is.
And that's a pretty big range.
442
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,400
I understand less likely to
catch fire in the 1st place, you
443
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:18,480
know, So there's good there.
It's bad.
444
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:22,560
But again, that doesn't apply to
what we're talking about here.
445
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,400
Lithium when when you with the
batteries that we use, when you
446
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,480
try to light one of these
batteries on fire, they don't
447
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,040
the fire does not spread inside
of the battery.
448
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,960
So they are actually they don't
do that thermal runaway thing.
449
00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:40,240
That's what they call it when a
battery catches fire and it
450
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,320
spreads throughout the pack and
you can't put it out, thermal
451
00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:45,040
runaway.
So thermal runaway.
452
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,880
So again, the answer to your
first question is non issue on
453
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,840
all fronts and hasn't been an
issue in this world for about 5
454
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:54,720
years.
That's good.
455
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,000
But but we, you know, I get, I
get asked that question a lot.
456
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,320
And then the second thing, I'm
not sure where that's coming
457
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,240
from because the systems that we
use are significantly, well, I
458
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,760
shouldn't say significantly.
They're usually either equal in
459
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,040
size or smaller than the
equivalent diesel generators
460
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,760
that we're using.
Including refuelling, Including
461
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:15,480
solar.
Farms.
462
00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,680
Well, no, now see the solar farm
is just a way to refuel the
463
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,240
batteries, right?
It's just a way to recharge
464
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,240
them, OK.
I guarantee you that if you
465
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,400
built an oil refinery on site,
it would be a lot bigger than
466
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,960
the solar farm.
So I don't think that that's
467
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:34,480
really a fair assessment either
because you, you know, that's,
468
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,840
that's a benefit.
And it's not that, you know, one
469
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:39,840
of the things about energy
storage these days about
470
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:44,960
batteries is that we've come a
long ways in terms of how much
471
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,120
we can store.
Really, I think the bigger
472
00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:52,000
problem is charging times.
But if you think about it, all
473
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,640
you have to do is match what a
diesel generator does in terms
474
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:02,080
of, in terms of runtime.
And then there's all sorts of
475
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:06,880
ways, there's a whole menu of
ways to mitigate the, the, the
476
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,560
fact that you can't recharge a
generator as fast as you can
477
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:15,120
recharge a battery power station
as fast as you can refuel a
478
00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:18,640
diesel generator.
If you try really, really hard,
479
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,120
you're going to find use cases
where a diesel generator is
480
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:22,200
better.
In fact, you don't have to try
481
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:23,520
that hard.
There's there's definitely use
482
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,600
cases where a diesel generator
makes sense.
483
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:31,360
But you know, we don't deploy
solar farms for a lot of the
484
00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:34,880
shows that we do because we size
all of our gear to have at least
485
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,400
a full day of runtime, right?
So if you're going to be running
486
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:43,520
around and the vet and
refuelling generators, it's
487
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,080
really no different to deal with
the batteries.
488
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:47,800
Now, are you going to recharge
the batteries?
489
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,400
Well, in some places you can.
Some places you have the ability
490
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,000
through a variety of means to
charge them overnight.
491
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,280
So the fact that it might take
you 5 hours to charge instead of
492
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,880
5 minutes isn't a significant
issue.
493
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,200
But that's only, again, that's
one tool in your shed.
494
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,640
And this is going to be a point
that I'm going to bring up again
495
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,560
and again and again.
We have so much more flexibility
496
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,400
when using batteries that even
though there are things that
497
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:18,480
batteries and battery powers
stations might not do as well as
498
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:23,600
diesel, which again really is
how much energy, how much power
499
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:27,040
you can put out and how quickly
you can refuel it.
500
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,840
So do you have, do you have some
kind of like planning software
501
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,840
or something that creates an
algorithm that says based on
502
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:37,760
your show, here's the best
solution?
503
00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,680
So it's to use a, a battery four
times as big as what we need
504
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,400
because it's going to allow us
to go the whole weekend or to
505
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,040
use more batteries or to have
backups or to charge overnight.
506
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,440
Like do you have something that
helps make that decision?
507
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,520
Or we have a we have a whole
slate of tools to do that,
508
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,400
including some software.
Like I said, what I was going to
509
00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:00,880
say is that we so in order to
recharge, refuel, we have
510
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,440
several options.
We have first of all, of course
511
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:08,360
there's recharging, right?
Second of all, there's battery
512
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,200
swapping, right?
So we can just swap out
513
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,840
batteries, OK.
And then of course, the third
514
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,520
thing is to just simply have
enough batteries to to make your
515
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,000
runtime.
So those are the reason why I
516
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,360
don't think space is is is a big
concern.
517
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,280
Right.
And so what's the most common?
518
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,480
Is it swapping or it's
completely?
519
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:33,120
Now, this is I will say one
thing, because of all of the
520
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:38,000
options and all the different
ways we can do things, OK, using
521
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,760
renewable energy requires a very
different skill set.
522
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,520
And to people who are very
familiar with generators and how
523
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:50,160
generators work and are really
invested in how that works, it
524
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,080
can seem complicated and it's
very, it can be
525
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,960
counterintuitive.
Oh, really what we do when we
526
00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:02,360
look an event is we reimagine
the whole power grid and we ask
527
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,600
ourselves what are the loads?
What are the things we're trying
528
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:08,360
to run?
Where are they are the energy
529
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,400
demands?
How long do they have to run?
530
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,320
What are the available charging
sources that are already here?
531
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,640
What charging sources can we set
up and build?
532
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:24,760
And then we apply that solution
to every load on the show.
533
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:30,360
So I'm going to cut to an
example from 2 weeks ago.
534
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,280
No values festival in Pomona at
the Pomona Fairplex here in
535
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:41,400
Southern California, the 1st
roughly 250,000 square feet from
536
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,600
the entry gates forward all the
way to front of house at the
537
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:49,240
first stage that you hit were
completely diesel free done by
538
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:53,840
OverDrive energy solutions that
includes the box office 6 box
539
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,120
office trailers merchandise.
There was out of show
540
00:30:56,120 --> 00:31:00,320
merchandise, insure merchandise
fulfillment, guest services,
541
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,000
charging lockers.
There was a, there's security
542
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,200
scan and gates and, and, and,
and then there was also a
543
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,120
several office offices for
different departments in that
544
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,680
area.
We went from, you know, I figure
545
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,800
looking at the plot, they would
have split that up into probably
546
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:21,360
4 diesel generators and
destroyed out to everything.
547
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:27,840
We ran, we think 30 units there,
30 individual units.
548
00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,000
Closer to the to the power is
needed.
549
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,880
Well, well, well, hear me out.
There's 30 individual units, 5
550
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,040
cable ramps, all of them were
back a house.
551
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:41,880
We're talking merch, security,
everything. 5 cable reps was all
552
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,880
there was OK Everything was set
up so there was no refuelling or
553
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:51,480
no recharging needed.
We ran 18 in that area Phone.
554
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,480
There were 12 offices with 18
different air conditioning units
555
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:59,240
in them and we ran them for
three days, 90 plus degree
556
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,760
weather with no issues.
Now someone might say, well you
557
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:08,600
had 30 generators instead of
four, 3030 smaller units instead
558
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,720
of four generators.
You know, my response is when
559
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:17,440
you look at how much distro
wasn't there, it was actually a
560
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,040
simpler and easier installation.
Now, if you've spent your entire
561
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,560
career working with generators
and all you know are generators,
562
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,320
it looks more complicated.
Just like if you've spent your
563
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,360
entire life riding bicycles and
you look at a car, the car is
564
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:31,960
going to look more complicated,
you know?
565
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,200
But that's the thing.
It's a different thing, Yeah.
566
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,360
That makes so much sense.
Like that you can get the power
567
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,600
to where it's needed, as opposed
to, you know, put a big lump sum
568
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,760
of power and then distribution
to get it out to where it's
569
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,360
needed.
You know, Marcel, we've done, I
570
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:54,200
think we've, we've just, we've
passed 50 events in the last
571
00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,600
give or take three years.
We have had this year we have
572
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,440
had zero failures, 100% up time
across all the events we've done
573
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,720
last year we're at over 99%.
We had one system go down in
574
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:11,120
March of 2023 and that's that
went down for about 30 minutes
575
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,120
and that was the first and last
time we had anything like that
576
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:16,880
happen.
We've been working with what
577
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,520
failed, what failed.
I failed.
578
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:23,040
I had the backup battery set up
wrong.
579
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,960
And it was one of our first
shows, you know, that was, that
580
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:30,840
was human error back then.
But my point is that the systems
581
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,560
are that reliable.
They're so reliable that on
582
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,960
customers that we regularly work
with, we often get the call when
583
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,520
a generator fails.
You got a diesel?
584
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:41,720
Because they know that I can get
out there, deploy the battery
585
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:43,840
and get them up and running
faster than they're going to
586
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,360
pull the generator out and bring
a new generator in.
587
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,360
We, we do Burning Man every
year.
588
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:51,520
We've done it for years.
And it's really interesting
589
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,080
watching all the generators fail
in the heat and dust while the
590
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:55,800
battery systems go.
So they're more reliable.
591
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,840
And we're not dealing with, you
know, this isn't amateur hour.
592
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:03,760
Our last, you know, the shows
that we've been doing this year
593
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,720
we did South by Southwest, you
know about Luck Reunion.
594
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,159
That's not a huge show, but it's
very boutique, high touch.
595
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:13,480
We've done all of AEG, Golden
Voices festivals, I think all of
596
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:15,600
them down here in Southern
California so far this year,
597
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:19,159
including Coachella, Stagecoach
and you know, we like I said, we
598
00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:20,440
just finished All Values and
Pomona.
599
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,600
We did stuff at the Rose Bowl.
We did Google IO, which is their
600
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,440
largest developer conference.
It's at Shoreline Theatre, Menlo
601
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,639
Park.
These aren't small potatoes, 50
602
00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:33,520
events, major users.
We've deployed 400 amp services
603
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:37,440
reliably, you know, so it hasn't
been, you know, there's not a
604
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:43,320
limitation in terms of power.
And the question is, what's this
605
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,320
all about?
Everything that we do is backed
606
00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:47,679
by data.
So it's, it's it, it's really
607
00:34:47,679 --> 00:34:51,880
hard to, to say that what the
claims that we're making are
608
00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:56,000
are, are in some way distorted
or invalid because again, we're
609
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:57,880
very transparent.
You'll find that we promote what
610
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:01,360
we do a lot, not just because we
want people to see what we do
611
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:03,720
and come and earn their
business, but we're trying to
612
00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:06,520
show people how reliable this
stuff is.
613
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:10,280
So you wrap that all up,
everything I just said, why have
614
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,080
we had the success?
Why are we have this?
615
00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:14,920
Why are we having this?
Why are, you know, a bunch of
616
00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:18,360
roadies from Socal able to do
this?
617
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,320
And, and this is a space where
the large traditional power
618
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,880
suppliers have been struggling.
They are learning and they're,
619
00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:27,880
they're starting to deploy
stuff.
620
00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:29,800
And I think that's great.
But what is it?
621
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,920
And and and the The thing is
that the use sustainable energy
622
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,120
does take a different mindset
and a different approach.
623
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:43,240
And it just so happens that me
and my Co founders are a very
624
00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,760
happy accident that has that
background.
625
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:52,160
Yeah, so a bunch of questions.
One is when you, like you said,
626
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,400
you're doing all these big
shows, Google IO and Coachella
627
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,600
and all this stuff, are you
getting the call for battery
628
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:03,800
systems or for sustainable power
solutions, or are you getting
629
00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:08,200
the call for for generators and
convincing them to switch to
630
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,200
battery solutions?
No, we're a battery solutions
631
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,760
company, so we get the call for
sustainability a lot of the
632
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:17,280
time.
However, OverDrive is very much
633
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:20,600
focused on providing cost
effective production friendly
634
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:23,320
systems.
By that I mean this stuff is
635
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,200
sustainable or it enables
sustainability.
636
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:28,840
It's much cleaner.
It has all of those benefits,
637
00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:31,040
but that's not why you should be
using it.
638
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:33,400
Well, I shouldn't say that
that's not the only reason you
639
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,320
should be using it, Marcel.
You should be using it because
640
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:40,240
it's a better way to power the
show, I can tell you.
641
00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:42,160
Is it more stable as far as the
power?
642
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,120
Like there's not the the spikes
and stuff that you sometimes get
643
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:50,160
off generator power.
Yes, and more so First off, it's
644
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:52,040
more stable and that's not just
me talking.
645
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:55,080
We have data logs for every
single event that we have.
646
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,120
We have at this point, we have
gigabytes of data.
647
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,520
And you know, one of the neat
things is looking at at, at
648
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:04,320
something that's been running
for, for, for for for 16 or 20
649
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,480
hours with very with highly
variable loads on it.
650
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,600
And, and seeing that across 3
phases, you know, you're only
651
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,880
seeing a 1 Volt deviation over
that entire time frequency.
652
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,240
Like you're at 60 Hertz and
you're at 60 Hertz and you're at
653
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:21,080
60 Hertz period.
You know, so first of all,
654
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:25,120
because we're not dealing with a
rotating mass that has to
655
00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,960
accelerate and decelerate and
all that stuff to generate our,
656
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,040
our, our power, it's
fundamentally much cleaner.
657
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,000
But there's more.
So inverter systems, the engines
658
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:39,120
that we're talking about are by
design, they typically can
659
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:44,240
handle up to 100% overload for
short bursts.
660
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:48,800
And this is sort of a linear
relationship between rated load
661
00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,200
and and overload.
So you can actually run on the
662
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:55,480
systems we run, we have you can
run 30% overrated for 1/2 hour.
663
00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:58,800
What does this mean?
In the world that we live in
664
00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:02,200
live entertainment, we have a
lot of very dynamic loads and
665
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,760
lighting and audio, you know,
very dynamic loads.
666
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:10,400
And these systems are actually
better suited to run those loads
667
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,400
than a generator.
You don't have to worry about
668
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,240
about about balancing your loads
across phases.
669
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:20,920
You know, we've done some pretty
hilariously unbalanced loads and
670
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,640
it just doesn't matter.
So again, I can keep going, I
671
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:28,120
can go on and on and on.
But this is a better way to
672
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:30,680
power our events.
It's it's definitely
673
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,040
sustainable, but it is a better
way.
674
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,440
Are you guys manufacturing the
components or are you using
675
00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:38,240
something from another industry
that you're repurposing?
676
00:38:38,720 --> 00:38:44,880
Well, we're, we're manufacturing
the the gear any electronic or
677
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,080
any, any assembly these days is
made of components that are made
678
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:51,840
other places.
So, you know, our gear is custom
679
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:53,640
manufactured for live
entertainment.
680
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:57,560
You use, again, we use UL
certified batteries and
681
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:05,840
inverters.
We use, you know, we use gear
682
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:09,680
that was originally designed and
is often used in, in harsh
683
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:11,800
environment applications.
So the inverters we use, they're
684
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:19,320
very common in, in, in like in
yachts and, and ocean going
685
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,320
vessels and things like that.
They're they're designed to be
686
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:24,040
working in those harsh
environments.
687
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:27,440
And the batteries that we use,
for example, you know, they're,
688
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:31,160
I think the roots are really in
telecom, but these are very,
689
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,360
very commonly used for
industrial commercial backup
690
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,040
systems.
We incorporate them into a shock
691
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,320
mounted enclosure and things
like that to protect them.
692
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:41,960
But then there's things that,
you know, that are, are
693
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,120
completely our own design, the
input output stuff, although,
694
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:48,880
you know, we use standard Cam
locks, you know, and other sort
695
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,040
of connectors to accomplish it.
The way that we laid them out,
696
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,000
the way we mount them, the way
we access them.
697
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:55,680
And you know, it's all our own
design.
698
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,280
And the reason it is, is because
one of the things that we lean
699
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,080
on that makes.
These activations work is the
700
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:08,200
modularity and scalability of of
these components, and there's so
701
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:10,520
many different ways we can go
into that conversation.
702
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:16,000
Yeah, I mean, I so I'm guessing
there's not IP in the actual
703
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:20,520
technology, but your IP really
is more in the application and
704
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:24,840
the experience and the knowledge
of of not only using these, but
705
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,640
in, you know, just what can and,
and how, what the break
706
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:32,840
conditions would be, what the
optimal conditions are and all
707
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:34,640
of those.
Like somebody can come to you
708
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,600
with a Coachella and you know
exactly what to do, whereas
709
00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:39,280
someone else would be
experimenting.
710
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,000
How about this?
I don't know what to do and
711
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,800
what's what.
And, and by design, we've
712
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,720
designed our system so that you
don't need to know as much.
713
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:52,600
And that's that production
friendly approach to it.
714
00:40:53,120 --> 00:41:00,480
So, you know, there's, I think
that again, you could just
715
00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:02,880
they're, they're, they're
fundamentally so different.
716
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:05,960
It really requires a, a
different mindset.
717
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,520
But you know, like, like I, let
me, let me talk about briefly.
718
00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:12,040
I, I'd like to talk about where
we came from in the 1st place so
719
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:14,440
people understand why I make
these claims.
720
00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,920
You know why usually.
Usually where I start from the
721
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:20,280
beginning, this time I started
from like 2/3 of the way through
722
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:22,840
but.
Some days I wake up and I think
723
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,520
I'm the luckiest guy on earth.
Some days I wake up and I
724
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:27,720
figured out and and I think I
figured out how to ruin
725
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,320
everything I love.
I get it and trust me.
726
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:34,960
And, and there's a couple, you
know, and me and, and, and one
727
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:38,840
of my business partners, Sean,
we both had a very similar path.
728
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:43,320
My background is in hybrid
electric vehicles and electric
729
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:45,640
vehicle technology going all the
way back.
730
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,280
I think the first electric
vehicle I started working on was
731
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:51,400
in 1994 and I worked in that
space.
732
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,880
Eventually I went to the
University of Wisconsin and
733
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:57,200
graduated with an engineering
degree from there.
734
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:00,080
While I was there, did project
student projects with the US
735
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,040
Department of Energy and the big
three automakers.
736
00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:06,360
And then a couple years after I
graduated, I worked in
737
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:07,800
professional Motorsports for a
little while.
738
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:10,360
Then I started a company called
Apex P Technology which was all
739
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,880
about control systems and data
acquisition.
740
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,320
Systems, which is a whole other
conversation we need to have
741
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:19,640
because I've been around racing
for 1415 years with my kid.
742
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,640
He's still a he, he's doing all
kinds of different formula
743
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,440
stuff.
He's he's big on open wheels.
744
00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:29,880
So I mean he came through 10
years or eight years of karting
745
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,480
and and then the last three or
four years have been open wheel
746
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:35,680
mostly in Europe.
I haven't discussed this on any
747
00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:38,760
podcast at all, but I was an
engineer in IndyCar.
748
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:43,000
I was an engineer in the in IRL
Formula Atlantics.
749
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:44,000
I.
Haven't done any.
750
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,440
Do you know John Batos?
I don't know.
751
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,240
I haven't done any of that stuff
since the early 2000s.
752
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:53,400
He's an old timer.
He's an old timer.
753
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:56,240
I mean, he's probably sort of
the mentor that brought my kid
754
00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:59,920
up in, in car racing.
But Beto's Formula Atlantic,
755
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:02,880
you, you would have bumped into
him at some point because most
756
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,720
of the cars and the components
of the cars came through him.
757
00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:08,880
He, him and his brother owned a
company called Primus Racing.
758
00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:12,720
Oh, I think I heard of them.
Yeah, I worked with Hassle Grin
759
00:43:12,720 --> 00:43:16,440
back in the day and I think I I
worked with Dorcot and Hilton
760
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:18,440
and and Brooks Racing and all
these things.
761
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:20,720
This is going back 20 plus
years.
762
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:22,840
But you know, something
interesting happened at that
763
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:25,320
time because I had this
background in electric vehicle
764
00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:29,280
technology.
We ended up working with early
765
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:32,120
stage Tesla.
I think it was even back before
766
00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:34,600
Model S was released, providing
them with data acquisition
767
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:38,360
systems, 0 electric motorcycles,
I think we did some work with
768
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:40,680
them with wiring and harnesses
and stuff like that.
769
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:43,000
We worked with the US Department
of Energy.
770
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,680
We helped do data acquisition
stuff for the what, for the
771
00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:49,440
Automotive X Prize, the
Progressive Automotive X Prize,
772
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,760
you know, all of this stuff.
So I, I, I had a foot in that
773
00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:55,520
door.
And then around the the 2008
774
00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:58,760
recession, that business really,
really slowed down.
775
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,920
And I ended up helping a a buddy
of mine and one thing led to
776
00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:08,400
another and I ended up working
in the live music business,
777
00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:11,600
specifically working with
infrastructure stuff, barricade
778
00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:15,080
flooring, things like that on
large stadium tours and music
779
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:18,000
festivals.
And I actually helped.
780
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:19,640
What a strange.
Path though, you know,
781
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:21,640
engineering school to racing and
rock.
782
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:22,400
And roll.
Let me.
783
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:24,000
Like I said, rock'n'roll.
Yeah.
784
00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:26,400
Crazy.
My childhood dreams are my daily
785
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:29,320
nightmares.
Yeah.
786
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:30,920
You know, I don't know which.
Is which?
787
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,920
Yeah, exactly right.
So, you know, I had this thing
788
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:38,640
where I had this, this deep
engineering technical background
789
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:42,960
in batteries, electrical
systems, you know, all that
790
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:46,240
stuff.
And then I, you know, I, I've
791
00:44:46,240 --> 00:44:50,640
spent 12 years now working on
some of the largest, most
792
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:52,800
complicated productions in our
world.
793
00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:59,200
Now, now, now, Sean, he he
graduated with a, a master's in
794
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:02,640
electrical engineering with a
focus in solar to a job market
795
00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:06,400
that didn't have a lot going.
I I think you might have to
796
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:12,520
correct me on this, but I think
like his campus job was flying
797
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:16,400
an inflatable mascot in their
school's arena.
798
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:23,120
Oh my God, that's hilarious.
And that so when he couldn't
799
00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:28,320
find a job, a good competitive
job in the solar industry, he
800
00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:30,880
ended up being Roger Waters pig
pilot.
801
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:35,280
Sean Jacobs is the pig pilot.
He's still the pig pilot.
802
00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:38,040
He's been flying the pig for
Roger Waters since something
803
00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:40,160
like 2008 or something like
that.
804
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:45,880
He's also gone, he's gone on to
be head carp for for Roger.
805
00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:49,120
He's been a carp on Green Day.
Coldplay.
806
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:54,040
We're currently OverDrive is
currently touring with with a
807
00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:56,120
Green Day in Europe right now.
Sean's with them.
808
00:45:56,320 --> 00:46:00,360
We're not doing energy.
We just put out our first teaser
809
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:02,920
about it.
And I can if you put a put a put
810
00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:04,960
a pin in this, we'll talk about
what we're doing with Green Day
811
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:09,840
maybe at the end of the podcast.
But the point is that we're both
812
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:13,360
these, you know, we're, we're,
we're the the third kind of leg
813
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:16,120
in the stool is boxer.
He runs bigger hammer production
814
00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:19,320
services, long time tour
manager, production manager.
815
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:22,000
Now he has a crewing company, a
well known crewing company.
816
00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:26,280
And he's a conservationist.
He has had solar on his
817
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:29,600
warehouse at his home.
He's been driving electric cars
818
00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:32,480
for many, many years.
So he's a production guy who has
819
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:34,760
practical experience.
We're production people who have
820
00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:38,800
engineering experience.
And the pandemic happened and we
821
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:43,280
had no touring to do.
So when the pandemic happened, I
822
00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:45,840
actually ended up talking to
some of my colleagues at the US
823
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:47,360
Department of Energy who's still
there.
824
00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:56,520
And I was really, I was really
surprised and by by what they
825
00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:59,080
were telling me about how far
that technology has come.
826
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:03,640
And so we started started
messing around with it on our
827
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:05,720
own.
Literally did the start up
828
00:47:05,720 --> 00:47:08,200
thing, built the shed in my
backyard back there.
829
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:15,440
We called it OverDrive Labs and
10 by 10 shed and started
830
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:20,960
playing with stuff there.
We did our first event which was
831
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:26,160
a movie night on the beach for a
fitness group here in Santa
832
00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:30,280
Monica, CA.
I think it was in April or May
833
00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:38,280
of 2023 and it was 16 no 15
months later we did Billy
834
00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:40,880
Eilish's headlining set at.
Lollapalooza.
835
00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:45,360
That's that's some serious
movement growth.
836
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:48,320
That's wild.
And and that's with the
837
00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:49,840
reliability and everything we're
talking about.
838
00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:53,640
And I think the reason why we've
progressed this quickly and
839
00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:56,520
we've had the reliability and
we've been able to deliver is
840
00:47:56,520 --> 00:48:00,480
because we're looking at it from
a completely different lens.
841
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:03,040
You know, it's just the the
questions that you started off
842
00:48:03,040 --> 00:48:05,720
with, right?
Toxic batteries.
843
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:08,440
And what was the second one?
Again, it was toxic batteries
844
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,600
and they take up a lot of space.
Well, that's the surface stuff.
845
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:14,760
Just wait till you start digging
and you have, you know, we have
846
00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:17,440
all day.
This, by the way, is why Richard
847
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:20,240
is so awesome.
I'm in awe of that guy.
848
00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:22,800
He's a dear friend.
And I really look up to him
849
00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:26,240
because Rick, because we've had
a lot of skepticism, you know, a
850
00:48:26,240 --> 00:48:30,680
lot of people say you can't do
that, you know, and you know,
851
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:34,360
they say you, I, I always like
to try to come up with a good
852
00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:39,400
analogy for, you know, they say
you can't do that because there
853
00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:44,080
is a, you know, there's a post
in the middle of that path.
854
00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:45,720
You can't go, you can't go that
way.
855
00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:50,480
But there's nothing securing the
path that anyone check and see.
856
00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:53,400
We can just, or post, we can
pick it up, move it and then go
857
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:56,200
past it.
You know, no one's doing that.
858
00:48:56,400 --> 00:49:01,200
And so you know that that's what
this whole journey has been
859
00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:04,560
about is building a company.
And now you asked about IP.
860
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:08,920
Actually now we're getting into
sort of the the development
861
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:11,400
timeline, the path that
OverDrive is taking.
862
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:13,840
So there's very much technical
IP in what we do really.
863
00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:18,600
Yes, absolutely.
The way that we, the way our
864
00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:21,400
connection systems work, the way
that things work together,
865
00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:25,720
everything is modular right then
and there is, is, is, is IP.
866
00:49:25,720 --> 00:49:28,440
And I've actually, you know, we,
we're, we're, we're working on a
867
00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:30,720
raise right now, we're working
on scaling.
868
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:33,360
And so these are things that
we've been, we've been speaking
869
00:49:33,360 --> 00:49:35,720
with legal.
Professionals, my concern, my
870
00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:38,520
concern is always that, you
know, a bunch of yahoos can get
871
00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:42,200
together and save up some cash
or get a small investment and
872
00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:45,720
and go buy a bunch of battery
packs off of, you know, Alibaba
873
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:49,600
something and and end up in a in
a pickle.
874
00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:53,800
You know, Yahoo do a lot of harm
not only to our our industry,
875
00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:55,920
but but to your brand.
You know what I mean?
876
00:49:55,920 --> 00:49:58,520
Like so.
Marcel, we're not seeing this as
877
00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:01,800
yahoos.
We're seeing the largest diesel
878
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:06,000
generator rental companies on
earth buying batteries and
879
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:09,160
having issues.
It's really is the happy
880
00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:10,760
accident that's brought us to
where we are.
881
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:12,400
It's not the fact that we are
the best.
882
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:16,240
Yeah, I, I actually joke that,
you know, we're such terrible
883
00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:18,560
engineers that they kicked us
out and made us go work in
884
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:20,080
Rock'n'roll instead.
All right?
885
00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:21,880
We're not, we're not the
smartest engineers yet.
886
00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:23,640
I work with our vendors and our
suppliers.
887
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:26,920
It's always interesting when you
have when you're, you know
888
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:30,200
you're, you're in a meeting with
somebody who's obviously way
889
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:33,760
smarter than you, but because of
an experience or perspective,
890
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:35,680
you can open their mind to
something.
891
00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:40,240
Well, and here's herein lies
the, the opportunity like a, you
892
00:50:40,240 --> 00:50:44,640
know, you seem to downplay a
little bit the package that you
893
00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:47,960
bring.
And there's not very many people
894
00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:53,960
in our industry who, A, went all
the way through school B, you
895
00:50:53,960 --> 00:50:58,000
know, have engineering degrees
and stuff and end up going to
896
00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:01,280
work for car companies, you
know, helping to produce
897
00:51:01,280 --> 00:51:04,840
electric cars and, and the
technology behind it and then
898
00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:06,760
find their way into live events
that doesn't.
899
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:09,160
Happen very often.
It doesn't happen, but then
900
00:51:09,160 --> 00:51:11,360
there's not a lot of several
engineers who are losing
901
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:14,760
fingernails and slamming into
things at 3:00 in the morning.
902
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:19,440
If I was smarter I might have a
nice 401K and a cushy desk in
903
00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:21,480
Detroit.
But you're having a lot of fun
904
00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:24,840
and.
All seriousness, I just wanted
905
00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:25,920
to address what you said about
that.
906
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:30,120
Combination of, of skill set
and, and knowledge doesn't
907
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:31,960
exist.
And, and you know, that's why
908
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:35,280
Someone Like You can come into
a, a very old industry that's
909
00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:38,120
done things not very old.
I shouldn't say that, you know,
910
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:42,000
100, not even 100 years old, 60
year old industry, whatever it
911
00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:45,120
is that's done things a very
particular way.
912
00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:47,760
And our industry is definitely
stuck in our ways quite often
913
00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:49,600
where it's like, well, that's
how we've always done it.
914
00:51:50,240 --> 00:51:52,160
You know, like you said, there's
a pole in the way.
915
00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:53,400
Well.
Let's move the pole.
916
00:51:54,720 --> 00:51:59,640
But you know, I think a guy with
your sort of package of of
917
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:02,400
skills and knowledge is very
rare in our industry.
918
00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:03,840
And then even.
Kadina.
919
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:07,360
Kadina is very rare in our
industry, yeah.
920
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:10,000
And I got to say we're having a
lot of fun and you know, so
921
00:52:10,360 --> 00:52:12,080
we're bouncing around a lot of
places right now.
922
00:52:12,080 --> 00:52:15,360
But what what I was talking
about with and what, what, what
923
00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:18,200
what comes up is down playing.
And I know I listen.
924
00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:21,200
I almost feel like I have to
because we can do it the other
925
00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:24,440
way if you want.
We've done 50 shows plus shows.
926
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:26,760
We've had no failures.
I've already talked about that.
927
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:30,680
The clients, the people working
in those spaces love it.
928
00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:33,440
The artists love it.
The production people love it.
929
00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:36,920
The controllers love it.
You know, we're hitting it on a
930
00:52:36,920 --> 00:52:40,080
ballpark.
Yeah, but no one wants to hear
931
00:52:40,080 --> 00:52:43,600
that because then you sound like
it's actually less believable if
932
00:52:43,600 --> 00:52:46,080
I just lay it out like that.
And those every, everyone thinks
933
00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:48,000
those things are true.
So what I think you hear from me
934
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:49,560
is I'm trying to bring a sense
of balance to this.
935
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:52,760
I'm trying to explain to people,
listen, when, when, when, when
936
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:54,800
we talk about these benefits,
they are real.
937
00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:58,360
OK.
And lest someone thinks that,
938
00:52:58,440 --> 00:53:02,040
you know, we are, we are.
And, and whenever you have a lot
939
00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:04,840
of skepticism, people think that
you're you're inflating things.
940
00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:06,920
You know what happens?
And it's human nature.
941
00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:11,920
So I try to when I speak, I try
to be very, very clear and
942
00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:13,160
transparent about where it came
from.
943
00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:14,400
I mean.
Yeah.
944
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:18,760
We're not the stupidest people
in the world, right?
945
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:21,680
So, yeah, I'll give you that.
Like, you know, I've worked hard
946
00:53:21,680 --> 00:53:24,480
to gain this knowledge and we've
we've, we've broken a lot of
947
00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:29,360
stuff to get here.
But the point is that that the
948
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:35,080
the reason we're successful is
because of the time energy spent
949
00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:38,560
that getting here.
This is not, you know, I'm I'm
950
00:53:38,600 --> 00:53:41,120
what is it like?
You're like, I'm sure there's a
951
00:53:41,120 --> 00:53:43,480
meme out there somewhere about
what you're paying for when you
952
00:53:43,840 --> 00:53:46,600
hire a professional with, you
know, here.
953
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:51,840
We've got this is 35 years of
messing around with this stuff
954
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:53,680
is where we got to where we're
at.
955
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:57,360
And it's also, you're right.
That is part of our IP is simply
956
00:53:57,360 --> 00:54:01,480
the fact that it's hard for
other people who are invested in
957
00:54:01,480 --> 00:54:04,520
that world to get their head
around it and to look at things
958
00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:06,240
a different way.
And you really do have to look
959
00:54:06,240 --> 00:54:08,120
at everything from the software
perspective, from the hardware
960
00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:11,520
perspective, from the labour
perspective differently in order
961
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:13,200
to get, you know, a good result.
Wow.
962
00:54:13,840 --> 00:54:16,680
I mean, it seems really clear to
me that you guys would be a
963
00:54:16,680 --> 00:54:20,160
massive acquisition target for
some of the, you know, the cat
964
00:54:20,160 --> 00:54:24,680
and, and you know, the big
Sunbelt scenic or sunbelt, what
965
00:54:24,880 --> 00:54:27,200
are they called?
You know what I mean?
966
00:54:27,200 --> 00:54:31,000
Like those companies will look
at you and go, Oh my God, like
967
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:32,560
that.
We're never going to acquire as
968
00:54:32,560 --> 00:54:35,800
much talent and, and experience
as these guys have.
969
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:39,120
Let's just acquire them.
I, I was hoping that would, that
970
00:54:39,120 --> 00:54:42,560
would be the case when we first
started and, you know, maybe we,
971
00:54:42,560 --> 00:54:46,440
we still could be an acquisition
target, but you know, we're
972
00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:49,920
learning how different it is
from a lot of their business
973
00:54:49,920 --> 00:54:53,640
models.
You know, first of all, the
974
00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:58,720
battery systems, they, they,
they require a lot less distro
975
00:54:58,720 --> 00:55:00,520
and the same companies that
you're talking about.
976
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:03,320
Let's look at their revenue
model for a second, OK, They
977
00:55:03,320 --> 00:55:06,360
have these generators which have
a service life.
978
00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:10,160
Every time you use them, they're
worth less than the last time
979
00:55:10,160 --> 00:55:12,560
you use them, right?
You're wearing them out, OK,
980
00:55:13,040 --> 00:55:15,160
They need maintenance.
They, they need, they need
981
00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:16,720
repairs.
So there's an ongoing overhead
982
00:55:16,720 --> 00:55:18,760
cost to them.
OK.
983
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:24,360
Then you have distro and most of
it is very simple.
984
00:55:24,480 --> 00:55:27,600
It's copper.
And what's crazy is if you look
985
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:30,920
at the price, prices of copper,
a lot of the distro that's owned
986
00:55:30,920 --> 00:55:34,120
by these companies, it's not
just that it's been paid off
987
00:55:34,320 --> 00:55:37,320
ages ago.
It's worth more now as scrap
988
00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:42,320
than it was new in 1998 when
they got it or whatever, right?
989
00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:45,840
So they're going to look at
optimizing a grid.
990
00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:48,840
All right, First thing they have
to face is that all of their
991
00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:52,880
operations, OK, you're going to
have to retrain everybody.
992
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:54,840
Sure, we can talk about it at
the sea level.
993
00:55:56,240 --> 00:55:59,680
Our publicly traded generator
company wants to be sustainable.
994
00:55:59,720 --> 00:56:05,000
Tell that to the guy behind the
desk in Stuart, FL Tell him or
995
00:56:05,000 --> 00:56:08,400
her to stop using diesel
generators and go to this
996
00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:10,520
totally different technology,
right?
997
00:56:10,720 --> 00:56:14,280
So there's that.
It's a huge cultural shift too.
998
00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:17,240
Huge, huge cultural shift
facilities, right?
999
00:56:17,240 --> 00:56:21,760
They have to, you know, you have
to, you have to, we've all
1000
00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:25,240
heard, or some of us have heard
how Hertz really struggled to,
1001
00:56:25,240 --> 00:56:28,840
to, to add electric cars to
their fleet and they've had to
1002
00:56:28,840 --> 00:56:30,480
backtrack now and things like
that.
1003
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:34,080
So you have that every time they
deploy these things, if they're
1004
00:56:34,080 --> 00:56:36,360
deploying them correctly,
they're cannibalizing the best
1005
00:56:36,360 --> 00:56:38,960
revenue they have the the most
profitable stuff.
1006
00:56:39,200 --> 00:56:42,040
And, and I don't know what your
experience is, but I've been on
1007
00:56:42,040 --> 00:56:44,840
shows where the distro bill was
almost as much as the generator.
1008
00:56:44,840 --> 00:56:46,520
Actually, I think I've been on
the show where the distro bill
1009
00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:48,240
was higher than the cost of the
generator.
1010
00:56:48,360 --> 00:56:52,200
And then when you put the labor
to put in distro, how much does
1011
00:56:52,200 --> 00:56:56,000
an 8 hour call of union
electricians cost in Chicago,
1012
00:56:56,960 --> 00:56:59,680
right?
And they have to do that.
1013
00:56:59,920 --> 00:57:02,560
They have to do that distro.
So what do we see?
1014
00:57:02,560 --> 00:57:05,120
What we see in the market
predominantly right now is
1015
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:08,240
people replacing large
generators with large batteries.
1016
00:57:08,240 --> 00:57:10,560
I think that's where some of the
perceptions that we've talked
1017
00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:14,240
about come from, OK.
The thing about electrification
1018
00:57:14,240 --> 00:57:16,440
components is that they're
almost perfectly scalable.
1019
00:57:16,640 --> 00:57:21,520
I can take a MW battery
generator system.
1020
00:57:21,680 --> 00:57:25,200
OK, I can take a huge battery
generator system and charge a
1021
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:29,560
cell phone with it, and it's
actually still pretty much just
1022
00:57:29,560 --> 00:57:33,000
as reliable or or as as
efficient as as if it was
1023
00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:36,960
running 750 kilowatts at 3/4 of
its maximum loan.
1024
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:41,720
But you can take that one MW
system and if it's designed
1025
00:57:41,720 --> 00:57:44,240
properly, the components within
it allow this.
1026
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:47,840
You can split it up into 1000
kilowatt systems.
1027
00:57:48,360 --> 00:57:49,320
Yeah.
Right.
1028
00:57:50,200 --> 00:57:53,000
It's it's not very easy to do
that with generators.
1029
00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:55,440
So our systems, very
specifically the ones that we've
1030
00:57:55,440 --> 00:58:03,520
built, you can go all the way 10
kilowatts to 150 kilowatts with
1031
00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:06,920
the same components.
You can add battery capacity,
1032
00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:10,520
you know in what's called 5
kilowatt always.
1033
00:58:10,520 --> 00:58:13,920
That means it would run a 5000
Watt load for an hour all the
1034
00:58:13,920 --> 00:58:17,440
way to 640 just by connecting
them.
1035
00:58:18,160 --> 00:58:20,880
You can hot swap them.
You can actually add batteries
1036
00:58:20,880 --> 00:58:23,160
while you're running.
You can take batteries away and
1037
00:58:23,160 --> 00:58:24,240
take them to charge while you're
running.
1038
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:28,680
This is where it gets fun.
We can parallel inverters in
1039
00:58:28,680 --> 00:58:32,120
different ways.
We have a a unit we call the Pro
1040
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:36,200
60.
At it's core, it's a 6000 Watt
1041
00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:38,640
generator system inverter.
OK.
1042
00:58:39,760 --> 00:58:43,160
You can run two of them together
and there's a way with software
1043
00:58:43,160 --> 00:58:46,360
and communications cables to
connect them and now you have a
1044
00:58:46,360 --> 00:58:48,600
240 Volt split split phase
system.
1045
00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:52,280
You can 66 kilowatts, so 50 amps
per phase.
1046
00:58:52,640 --> 00:58:54,760
Take three of them.
Now you got a three phase
1047
00:58:54,760 --> 00:58:56,560
system.
Now all of a sudden we've got an
1048
00:58:56,560 --> 00:59:00,840
18K3 phase generator, but
there's more.
1049
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:03,880
You can also stack them in the
other direction.
1050
00:59:04,040 --> 00:59:06,720
You want 18 KA 120 volts single
phase.
1051
00:59:06,720 --> 00:59:09,720
You can run three of them like
that all the way up to 36
1052
00:59:09,720 --> 00:59:11,760
kilowatt three phase.
That's wild.
1053
00:59:12,040 --> 00:59:14,440
This so I have all I all I need
is this.
1054
00:59:15,040 --> 00:59:19,400
I have nine boxes that one
person can roll around easily in
1055
00:59:19,400 --> 00:59:21,920
my trailer.
You know these are I I forget
1056
00:59:21,920 --> 00:59:24,800
the exact dimension, but they're
like the three quarter truck
1057
00:59:24,800 --> 00:59:26,400
pack or one way they're three
wide.
1058
00:59:26,400 --> 00:59:30,760
The other way they're four wide
and a truck that one component
1059
00:59:30,760 --> 00:59:33,000
can be used in so many different
applications.
1060
00:59:33,000 --> 00:59:35,000
You can Lego it together the way
you want.
1061
00:59:35,160 --> 00:59:38,600
The same thing with our Pro 600,
which is 10 times the size.
1062
00:59:39,240 --> 00:59:42,360
It's it's it's nominally 60
kilowatt can go all the way up
1063
00:59:42,360 --> 00:59:47,200
to 180 kilowatts three phase.
So we have the ability to go
1064
00:59:47,200 --> 00:59:49,840
around and tailor our loads to
what we need.
1065
00:59:50,000 --> 00:59:53,280
The separation distance for the
big systems is five feet.
1066
00:59:53,640 --> 00:59:56,400
A lot of our systems are exempt.
They're they small enough for
1067
00:59:56,400 --> 00:59:58,040
the exempt from from some of
these codes.
1068
00:59:58,040 --> 00:59:59,600
So you can put them, you know,
right.
1069
01:00:00,080 --> 01:00:05,880
We we have we have a problem.
That some of my my guys have
1070
01:00:05,920 --> 01:00:08,360
real concerns about which they
should have real concerns about
1071
01:00:09,240 --> 01:00:11,680
and that is people putting their
drinks on our gear.
1072
01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:19,240
Personally, I'm not encouraging
it, but I love it because I know
1073
01:00:19,240 --> 01:00:21,720
that the chances of someone not
going to drink over and it
1074
01:00:21,720 --> 01:00:24,320
getting into that enclosure the
way it's designed are very, very
1075
01:00:24,320 --> 01:00:26,160
low.
Even if it got into the
1076
01:00:26,160 --> 01:00:28,360
enclosure.
These things have seen some
1077
01:00:28,360 --> 01:00:32,200
stuff like I've I've had units
in green fields where we didn't
1078
01:00:32,200 --> 01:00:37,320
know there was sprinklers, you
know, like I'm not encouraging
1079
01:00:37,320 --> 01:00:39,840
this.
Like think about this for a
1080
01:00:39,840 --> 01:00:42,840
second.
In what world would it be a
1081
01:00:42,840 --> 01:00:45,600
problem that people keep putting
their drinks on a diesel
1082
01:00:45,600 --> 01:00:48,280
generator?
In what world is your is, is
1083
01:00:48,280 --> 01:00:51,640
your power supply for the entire
bar at the back of house, right,
1084
01:00:52,440 --> 01:00:55,000
you know, or, or at the back of
the bar or in the bar or under
1085
01:00:55,000 --> 01:00:59,240
the bar, you know, so there's so
much flexibility that can that
1086
01:00:59,240 --> 01:01:00,560
can happen.
I'm going to tell you another
1087
01:01:00,560 --> 01:01:02,280
thing too, that that's going to
blow your mind.
1088
01:01:02,720 --> 01:01:06,440
So one thing I'm going after is
supplemental generators.
1089
01:01:06,440 --> 01:01:10,200
I mean, there's one thing about
making festivals green, but as
1090
01:01:10,200 --> 01:01:14,880
an engineer, the first principal
sort of engineering me, I'll
1091
01:01:14,880 --> 01:01:20,720
never be comfortable with seeing
diesel generators at venues in
1092
01:01:20,720 --> 01:01:22,760
urban areas.
Did, we did Dead and Company
1093
01:01:22,760 --> 01:01:26,240
last year and we had I think
they were MW twin packs, 2500
1094
01:01:26,240 --> 01:01:31,080
kilowatt units at Fenway, at
Wrigley Field, quite a few other
1095
01:01:31,080 --> 01:01:33,840
destinations.
But you know, we, we're in a
1096
01:01:33,840 --> 01:01:36,480
business where we bring
generators to places with power
1097
01:01:36,600 --> 01:01:38,760
because there's not enough
power, it's not reliable.
1098
01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:41,960
So all of our units can do the
following.
1099
01:01:42,160 --> 01:01:47,520
Not only can they power things,
but they can actually boost
1100
01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:49,960
things.
Let's and and we do this all the
1101
01:01:49,960 --> 01:01:51,200
time now.
So we did this in South by
1102
01:01:51,200 --> 01:01:54,560
Southwest.
They had 100 amp service in the
1103
01:01:54,920 --> 01:01:58,480
park that we were working in the
stage needed, you know, two 200
1104
01:01:58,480 --> 01:01:59,840
amp services or something like
that.
1105
01:02:00,560 --> 01:02:03,680
We had our unit, the pro 60,
which is capable of boosting,
1106
01:02:04,040 --> 01:02:06,840
I'm sorry, Pro 600 capable of
boosting those things by 100
1107
01:02:06,840 --> 01:02:08,880
amps.
What we could do was we could
1108
01:02:08,880 --> 01:02:11,680
take in 100 amps and add 100
amps to it.
1109
01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:17,160
And really, and this is where it
gets really fun, is when the
1110
01:02:17,920 --> 01:02:22,400
load was drawing more than 100
amps, it would take the
1111
01:02:22,920 --> 01:02:26,240
remainder of the power from our
system, our batteries, our
1112
01:02:26,240 --> 01:02:29,000
inverter.
But when it was less, it was
1113
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:31,800
charging our system.
So we're working like a big
1114
01:02:31,800 --> 01:02:33,920
sponge.
Interesting.
1115
01:02:33,920 --> 01:02:37,080
So we did that South by, we did
it at 2 Coachella events.
1116
01:02:37,080 --> 01:02:39,920
We did it at a Interscope
Records Capital Records party.
1117
01:02:40,080 --> 01:02:44,000
They had a mansion for their
what did they call it?
1118
01:02:44,000 --> 01:02:46,800
They call it party in the desert
every year Coachella weekend
1119
01:02:46,800 --> 01:02:51,000
one, you know, celebrities and
executives and music industry
1120
01:02:51,000 --> 01:02:53,520
and all that stuff.
They had a catering operation
1121
01:02:53,760 --> 01:02:56,280
that they would typically bring
a supplemental generator out
1122
01:02:56,280 --> 01:03:00,360
for.
Well, all we had to do was plug
1123
01:03:00,400 --> 01:03:04,400
our unit into a 20AMP or even
actually it was a 15 amp Edison
1124
01:03:04,520 --> 01:03:10,040
and we could output 50 amps, you
know, and, and actually we could
1125
01:03:10,040 --> 01:03:14,200
have, I'll put 50 amps
continuously on that system for
1126
01:03:15,680 --> 01:03:18,240
about four hours.
But obviously no one's pulling
1127
01:03:18,240 --> 01:03:21,400
50 amps continuously.
And actually in all these
1128
01:03:21,400 --> 01:03:23,320
applications, the state of
charge of the battery when we
1129
01:03:23,320 --> 01:03:27,560
picked it up was 100% because
whatever they drain, they're
1130
01:03:27,560 --> 01:03:31,880
always putting it back.
Right now it gets even more.
1131
01:03:32,320 --> 01:03:35,680
So we did another thing where we
had a large video wall running
1132
01:03:35,680 --> 01:03:38,680
again off of a 15 amp regular
plug in a house.
1133
01:03:39,120 --> 01:03:41,360
We had everything sized for 30
amps for that video wall.
1134
01:03:41,520 --> 01:03:43,960
So we could boost that.
But there's more.
1135
01:03:44,640 --> 01:03:46,640
All these systems can work as
UPS's as well.
1136
01:03:47,640 --> 01:03:51,680
So let's say that we had grid
power and we had one of our
1137
01:03:51,680 --> 01:03:54,280
systems.
If the grid were to go down, if
1138
01:03:54,280 --> 01:03:57,480
you have a power failure, if we
size our system properly, it can
1139
01:03:57,480 --> 01:04:01,080
continue to power the load until
our Baker batteries is dead,
1140
01:04:01,240 --> 01:04:03,440
which you know, when these grid
tensions, we try to go several
1141
01:04:03,440 --> 01:04:05,720
hours.
So that actually happened at the
1142
01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:08,240
Capitol reckless party.
They, they, they lost power in
1143
01:04:08,240 --> 01:04:10,320
the house.
The, they had a power failure in
1144
01:04:10,320 --> 01:04:12,040
the house.
The catering operation stayed up
1145
01:04:12,040 --> 01:04:14,200
and running.
There were no issues, you know,
1146
01:04:14,400 --> 01:04:16,880
and so if we ever have a great
failure or something like that,
1147
01:04:17,120 --> 01:04:19,800
we have several hours to fix the
problem.
1148
01:04:20,160 --> 01:04:23,800
And these are all things that
they aren't, you know, obviously
1149
01:04:23,800 --> 01:04:26,280
they're not features of
generators, they're not
1150
01:04:26,320 --> 01:04:30,000
intuitive to people.
But once you, once you learn
1151
01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:32,400
these details and then you go
out there and you apply them.
1152
01:04:32,400 --> 01:04:35,080
And that's the other thing that
you know, that's the other IP
1153
01:04:35,080 --> 01:04:38,320
that you mentioned.
It's going to take time for
1154
01:04:38,320 --> 01:04:42,840
people to really understand how
these how you do these
1155
01:04:42,840 --> 01:04:44,560
combinations.
And that's another reason why
1156
01:04:44,760 --> 01:04:46,760
you mentioned software.
One of the things I had to call
1157
01:04:46,760 --> 01:04:51,840
out yesterday is developing
software to help manage and
1158
01:04:51,840 --> 01:04:54,720
implement this.
Now we already have every unit
1159
01:04:54,720 --> 01:04:58,000
we have has data, log unit and
wireless streaming.
1160
01:04:58,000 --> 01:05:00,360
They all stream to a web-based
server.
1161
01:05:00,360 --> 01:05:04,160
I can go and look at everything
that's running on a dashboard at
1162
01:05:04,160 --> 01:05:05,760
any time.
And we do.
1163
01:05:05,800 --> 01:05:07,160
I mean, we're at our festivals
mostly.
1164
01:05:07,160 --> 01:05:10,000
What we're doing is watching to
make sure nothing's going wrong.
1165
01:05:10,400 --> 01:05:12,680
We can even control things off
the web.
1166
01:05:13,240 --> 01:05:15,320
So OverDrive has gone to the
next level.
1167
01:05:15,320 --> 01:05:19,120
Now we deploy our own networks.
So even when there's production
1168
01:05:19,120 --> 01:05:23,600
Wi-Fi, we have a Starlink.
We have these 900 megahertz long
1169
01:05:23,600 --> 01:05:28,560
range wireless nodes.
We can also use production Wi-Fi
1170
01:05:28,560 --> 01:05:31,520
and have ours is redundant and
then we can actually turn off
1171
01:05:31,520 --> 01:05:35,240
and on things Luck Reunion that
show that you know, we've done a
1172
01:05:35,240 --> 01:05:40,200
couple times with Willie Nelson,
we shut off stage power at like
1173
01:05:40,200 --> 01:05:44,200
2:00 in the morning and well, I
understood the call to be 9, but
1174
01:05:44,200 --> 01:05:45,960
actually the call from the
mainstage was at 8.
1175
01:05:45,960 --> 01:05:48,840
I got a phone call and I picked
up my phone and I hit a button
1176
01:05:49,080 --> 01:05:51,360
and I powered up the stage from
our Airbnb.
1177
01:05:51,440 --> 01:05:53,840
Interesting.
So you know, Richard was here
1178
01:05:53,840 --> 01:05:54,720
for that.
That was fine.
1179
01:05:55,480 --> 01:05:57,120
And the last thing I asked you a
couple.
1180
01:05:57,120 --> 01:05:58,480
Questions, Neil.
Go on, go.
1181
01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:00,600
On I just want to say one thing
real quickly about Richard.
1182
01:06:01,040 --> 01:06:04,040
One important thing about that
is he is somebody who is
1183
01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:09,160
absolutely steeped in generators
and traditional electrical
1184
01:06:09,160 --> 01:06:12,320
systems.
And if Richard has been able to
1185
01:06:12,720 --> 01:06:15,320
change his way of thinking,
understand this stuff and move
1186
01:06:15,320 --> 01:06:18,400
forward within the short amount
of time we we've had.
1187
01:06:18,600 --> 01:06:20,920
And Richard's been in the
industry forever and he likes to
1188
01:06:20,920 --> 01:06:24,400
make jokes about, you know,
setting things up on stone
1189
01:06:24,400 --> 01:06:28,640
tablets and stuff like that.
If he can make, if he can figure
1190
01:06:28,640 --> 01:06:30,360
this out, if he can make the
change, anyone can.
1191
01:06:30,840 --> 01:06:32,840
Yeah.
Well, and and I mean, he's a
1192
01:06:32,840 --> 01:06:36,440
huge advocate, obviously.
So a few questions and some of
1193
01:06:36,440 --> 01:06:37,520
these are going to be really
dumb.
1194
01:06:37,680 --> 01:06:43,280
But first is your bigger
challenge the the size of the
1195
01:06:43,280 --> 01:06:46,280
load or the the length?
Neither.
1196
01:06:46,760 --> 01:06:51,200
Those aren't challenges.
Well, or I should say like what
1197
01:06:51,200 --> 01:06:56,840
are you optimizing for?
Culture, probably culture the
1198
01:06:57,000 --> 01:07:01,720
the entire the biggest problem
by far is people's unfamiliarity
1199
01:07:01,720 --> 01:07:02,360
and.
Skepticism.
1200
01:07:02,920 --> 01:07:05,040
And let me, let me, I'll, I'll,
I'll take that to the next
1201
01:07:05,040 --> 01:07:07,800
level.
OK, First of all, I don't know
1202
01:07:07,800 --> 01:07:12,320
if if you're aware, but another
thing that we've come across is
1203
01:07:12,320 --> 01:07:19,600
how we how over respect our
current generators are so when
1204
01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:21,840
we did the building.
Failure based though, isn't it?
1205
01:07:21,840 --> 01:07:24,760
Like isn't that based on?
Well, I remember I had a problem
1206
01:07:24,760 --> 01:07:27,200
12 years ago at that one show
that we did.
1207
01:07:27,200 --> 01:07:30,200
So we always overspeck them now.
Except Marcel, they're making
1208
01:07:30,200 --> 01:07:33,200
them less reliable.
So what we're finding, what
1209
01:07:33,200 --> 01:07:36,080
we're finding, and it's not just
us, there's people from other
1210
01:07:36,080 --> 01:07:38,640
organizations have done this, is
that the generators that we use
1211
01:07:38,640 --> 01:07:43,040
in live events typically operate
at, you know, we were thinking
1212
01:07:43,080 --> 01:07:45,400
that it was really bad.
It was 25%.
1213
01:07:45,560 --> 01:07:48,720
What we're finding is a lot of
stuff is under 10%.
1214
01:07:49,840 --> 01:07:53,200
And what you're, what you're
getting at those low loads is
1215
01:07:53,200 --> 01:07:56,320
something called wet stacking in
diesels where they have the, the
1216
01:07:56,320 --> 01:07:58,200
particular emissions don't burn
off properly.
1217
01:07:58,360 --> 01:08:01,320
The emissions control system
they add don't work right and
1218
01:08:01,320 --> 01:08:05,480
the generators actually fail.
The generators are less reliable
1219
01:08:05,680 --> 01:08:08,320
because the loads that we're
running them at are, are very
1220
01:08:08,320 --> 01:08:10,000
low.
That's another thing is, is
1221
01:08:10,040 --> 01:08:12,560
we've, we've come to find that
this, you know, the supplemental
1222
01:08:12,560 --> 01:08:16,040
power thing is a rule of thumb.
Sean did this on Roger Waters.
1223
01:08:16,160 --> 01:08:18,600
He simply measured stuff and
they figured out that they could
1224
01:08:19,000 --> 01:08:21,840
drop supplemental generators AT2
venues that they've been getting
1225
01:08:21,840 --> 01:08:23,720
them forever.
No one ever questioned it.
1226
01:08:23,760 --> 01:08:28,080
They just get get the stuff.
So first of all, loads are not
1227
01:08:28,319 --> 01:08:33,200
really an issue because a,
they're lower than you would
1228
01:08:33,200 --> 01:08:36,000
think, B, we have that
scalability.
1229
01:08:36,160 --> 01:08:37,399
You know what?
You know what happens if I'm
1230
01:08:37,399 --> 01:08:39,439
wrong?
I can actually plug in a second
1231
01:08:39,479 --> 01:08:42,200
unit in real time.
That's a double mic.
1232
01:08:42,359 --> 01:08:47,120
The cool part like you know you
could put in a an X size package
1233
01:08:47,479 --> 01:08:50,640
and have a miscalculation or
gear added to a show.
1234
01:08:50,640 --> 01:08:56,479
God forbid it does happen and
you could just add like a module
1235
01:08:56,479 --> 01:08:57,920
right?
You don't have to respect the
1236
01:08:57,920 --> 01:09:00,080
whole system, you can just plug
in another module.
1237
01:09:00,880 --> 01:09:02,760
It's, it's one of my favorite
party tricks.
1238
01:09:02,960 --> 01:09:06,560
We, we, we fill the trailer
everywhere we go because they'll
1239
01:09:06,560 --> 01:09:09,120
use everything we bring.
No matter what we spec always,
1240
01:09:09,439 --> 01:09:12,000
you know, our clients always
find uses because there's always
1241
01:09:12,000 --> 01:09:15,720
something that is either a pain
in the ass or we're not doing
1242
01:09:15,720 --> 01:09:18,319
because it's a pain in the ass.
I'll give you the simplest
1243
01:09:18,319 --> 01:09:21,120
example.
At the Rose Bowl, they had the,
1244
01:09:21,560 --> 01:09:26,200
they had cords running against
an emergency exit that went back
1245
01:09:26,200 --> 01:09:28,160
of house that went backstage at
the mainstage.
1246
01:09:28,840 --> 01:09:32,000
And so they said, and there was
a security tent right next to it
1247
01:09:32,520 --> 01:09:34,399
to move it to the other side.
So there were no cords would
1248
01:09:34,399 --> 01:09:38,479
make it really crowded, right.
So someone said, Hey, why don't
1249
01:09:38,479 --> 01:09:39,680
they just put a battery over
there?
1250
01:09:39,680 --> 01:09:41,960
And then we've, we've, we've
opened up that space.
1251
01:09:42,080 --> 01:09:46,800
We made the emergency exit, you
know, much cleaner and more
1252
01:09:46,800 --> 01:09:50,080
compliant and, and safer, right,
right.
1253
01:09:50,080 --> 01:09:55,880
So that we did that last weekend
with the with a security gate.
1254
01:09:55,920 --> 01:09:59,120
We did that with an inflatable.
We did that with the merch
1255
01:09:59,120 --> 01:10:01,320
fulfillment tents.
That was just last weekend.
1256
01:10:02,040 --> 01:10:05,080
Yeah, the last gig we did so.
And there's no danger to to
1257
01:10:05,160 --> 01:10:08,520
proximity or anything of these
batteries, like whether it's
1258
01:10:08,520 --> 01:10:11,720
heat or radiation or whatever.
Like these are dumb questions
1259
01:10:11,720 --> 01:10:12,640
for sure.
No, they don't.
1260
01:10:12,640 --> 01:10:17,600
They don't, they don't have.
So that's, that's actually an
1261
01:10:17,600 --> 01:10:21,200
interesting question though too.
So electromagnetic, you know,
1262
01:10:21,440 --> 01:10:25,000
radiation is fundamentally
caused by changing and moving
1263
01:10:25,000 --> 01:10:27,080
currents.
We don't have a rotating mass
1264
01:10:27,080 --> 01:10:29,040
like a generator.
We actually have less
1265
01:10:29,280 --> 01:10:32,280
electromagnetic output and
things like that than
1266
01:10:32,560 --> 01:10:34,320
interesting than the typical
generator.
1267
01:10:34,560 --> 01:10:40,600
These units, they don't run hot.
Like the hottest temperatures
1268
01:10:40,600 --> 01:10:45,200
that we see in the desert like
at Coachella might be 120 F in
1269
01:10:45,200 --> 01:10:48,960
the units.
They run fine at 120 F and, you
1270
01:10:48,960 --> 01:10:51,160
know, an equivalent generator.
What's that running at, you
1271
01:10:51,160 --> 01:10:54,640
know?
Yeah. 22250 if you're looking at
1272
01:10:54,640 --> 01:10:56,640
oil, yeah, those.
Desert shows are brutal
1273
01:10:56,640 --> 01:11:00,080
environments, you know that and
and the Burning Man and stuff.
1274
01:11:00,080 --> 01:11:04,120
Brutal environments for gear.
Yeah, so I mean, I, this is,
1275
01:11:04,120 --> 01:11:09,160
again, this is like I said, why
I, why I tend to try to inject a
1276
01:11:09,160 --> 01:11:12,680
little bit of, of, of humble
into what I, I talk about
1277
01:11:12,680 --> 01:11:16,480
because when you say things
like, you know, and, and, and
1278
01:11:16,480 --> 01:11:18,560
it's, I'm sure it's a little
frustrating as an interviewer
1279
01:11:18,560 --> 01:11:22,440
when I say things like, that's
not a problem, neither of those
1280
01:11:22,440 --> 01:11:23,640
problems.
It's just a culture.
1281
01:11:23,840 --> 01:11:26,960
It sounds nuts, but then take
half a step back.
1282
01:11:27,720 --> 01:11:32,280
I realize that we can scale the
battery storage, we can scale
1283
01:11:32,280 --> 01:11:35,480
the power output those.
Assets are real time.
1284
01:11:35,760 --> 01:11:38,360
You can scale it real time,
which is the cool part, yeah.
1285
01:11:39,120 --> 01:11:42,240
They're easy to move.
I mean, all right, weight is an
1286
01:11:42,240 --> 01:11:43,920
issue.
Right.
1287
01:11:44,400 --> 01:11:47,920
Things weigh a lot, but you know
what a lot of stuff that we deal
1288
01:11:47,920 --> 01:11:53,800
with in live events weighs a lot
and we use just just here we use
1289
01:11:53,800 --> 01:11:58,120
480 Volt generators that are
some distance away from load
1290
01:11:58,320 --> 01:12:02,320
with a step down transformer to
go to two O 8, right And have
1291
01:12:02,320 --> 01:12:05,160
you I mean step down
Transformers, A-75 kilowatt step
1292
01:12:05,160 --> 01:12:07,280
down transformer weighs how much
2000?
1293
01:12:07,280 --> 01:12:07,920
Pounds.
Yeah, they're not.
1294
01:12:08,120 --> 01:12:08,720
Yeah, they're.
Not so.
1295
01:12:08,720 --> 01:12:12,920
It's not like, yeah, batteries
are heavy, but again, when you
1296
01:12:12,920 --> 01:12:15,360
take that whole system, the
generator, the Transformers, all
1297
01:12:15,360 --> 01:12:17,520
that addition and everything
like that, it's heavy too.
1298
01:12:17,880 --> 01:12:21,680
So when I say things like that,
I know it sounds nuts, but but
1299
01:12:21,680 --> 01:12:26,920
really it all goes back to
helping someone understand that,
1300
01:12:27,120 --> 01:12:30,640
OK, they're scalable and the
things that make them scalable
1301
01:12:30,760 --> 01:12:32,560
are easy to move around and get
around.
1302
01:12:32,560 --> 01:12:34,840
I would much rather push a rack
of batteries.
1303
01:12:35,040 --> 01:12:38,240
One of our our, our typically
size large battery stacks is
1304
01:12:38,240 --> 01:12:39,840
about the size of a
refrigerator.
1305
01:12:40,040 --> 01:12:44,640
A lot easier to push that into
place and plug it in and take
1306
01:12:44,640 --> 01:12:46,360
the old batteries out.
Then they get a fuel truck
1307
01:12:46,360 --> 01:12:47,960
that's fuel, a generator in the
same.
1308
01:12:47,960 --> 01:12:49,080
Spot.
Yeah, that makes sense.
1309
01:12:49,600 --> 01:12:52,040
Two more questions.
Well, no, I mean not for the
1310
01:12:52,040 --> 01:12:55,000
whole interview, but just two,
two things that are on my mind
1311
01:12:55,000 --> 01:12:56,240
that I'll forget if I don't ask
you.
1312
01:12:58,360 --> 01:13:03,480
Cost per delivered what as
compared to to diesel
1313
01:13:03,480 --> 01:13:08,440
generators, is it less, is it
more if you include refueling
1314
01:13:08,440 --> 01:13:11,080
and all of the all of the
components?
1315
01:13:11,920 --> 01:13:16,560
The longer the show, the more
cost competitive it is.
1316
01:13:17,680 --> 01:13:20,520
But it doesn't even have to be
very long shows because, you
1317
01:13:20,520 --> 01:13:22,480
know, again, the live
entertainment industry has given
1318
01:13:22,480 --> 01:13:26,720
us a gift here.
So what standard practices for a
1319
01:13:26,720 --> 01:13:28,080
generator?
Let's say that you're doing a
1320
01:13:28,080 --> 01:13:30,360
show.
Marcel, apologies, I don't know
1321
01:13:30,360 --> 01:13:34,880
your background.
Let's let's let's talk a stadium
1322
01:13:34,880 --> 01:13:38,880
show that I know a thing or two
about those your steel team
1323
01:13:38,880 --> 01:13:42,240
loads in typically what, three
days before production shows up?
1324
01:13:42,320 --> 01:13:43,680
Four days before production
shows up.
1325
01:13:44,400 --> 01:13:47,480
So when that generator comes
with the steal team and it gets
1326
01:13:47,480 --> 01:13:49,360
started, when does it get turned
off?
1327
01:13:52,120 --> 01:13:57,720
I don't know.
Load out day of course doesn't
1328
01:13:57,720 --> 01:14:01,360
get shut off at all in between.
So when that state generator is
1329
01:14:01,360 --> 01:14:06,400
started, it will run 24/7 for
days and days and days, right?
1330
01:14:06,400 --> 01:14:10,400
Another little characteristic of
diesel generators is that they
1331
01:14:10,400 --> 01:14:12,960
typically.
And the fuel, sorry to
1332
01:14:12,960 --> 01:14:15,920
interrupt, but so yours is
basically power on demand
1333
01:14:15,920 --> 01:14:17,400
versus?
On demand.
1334
01:14:17,520 --> 01:14:20,800
Running, running all the time.
Yeah, not only that, but never
1335
01:14:20,800 --> 01:14:22,480
even thought of that.
That makes a huge amount of
1336
01:14:22,480 --> 01:14:24,720
sense.
People don't realize this.
1337
01:14:24,720 --> 01:14:30,520
Diesel generators also, they
typically burn the same amount
1338
01:14:30,520 --> 01:14:34,520
of fuel at idle all the way up
to 2025% lower because the
1339
01:14:34,520 --> 01:14:38,520
efficiency of the generator
starts tanking as you get toward
1340
01:14:38,520 --> 01:14:41,000
idle.
OK, so it turns out it takes
1341
01:14:41,000 --> 01:14:44,480
almost the same amount of fuel
to make 25 kilowatts out of 100
1342
01:14:44,880 --> 01:14:47,560
kilowatt generator than it does
to have it sitting there
1343
01:14:47,600 --> 01:14:51,960
overnight just running to keep
the councils on at the stage.
1344
01:14:52,920 --> 01:14:56,880
So that's crazy.
I'm, I'm, I'm going to, pardon
1345
01:14:56,880 --> 01:14:59,960
me to the rude guy looking at
his computer, but I want to
1346
01:15:00,080 --> 01:15:01,920
quote real numbers to you for a
second.
1347
01:15:01,960 --> 01:15:06,360
OK, Because we just finished
another sustainability report.
1348
01:15:06,960 --> 01:15:09,720
All the data is the property of
my customers.
1349
01:15:09,880 --> 01:15:13,160
It's up to them to share.
So I don't share names, but I
1350
01:15:13,160 --> 01:15:19,040
will tell you that in one single
three day event, we saved an
1351
01:15:19,040 --> 01:15:21,880
estimated 2000 gallons of fuel
recently.
1352
01:15:22,120 --> 01:15:26,200
And that's fairly typical of
like a three day festival. 2000
1353
01:15:26,200 --> 01:15:28,120
gallons of fuel.
What are they paying for fuel
1354
01:15:28,120 --> 01:15:30,960
service around here?
You know, is it 6-8 bucks a
1355
01:15:30,960 --> 01:15:33,040
gallon?
Yeah, yeah, you're in
1356
01:15:33,040 --> 01:15:35,760
California.
But also the distro well and
1357
01:15:35,760 --> 01:15:38,000
that that's delivered fuel and
all that stuff, right?
1358
01:15:38,600 --> 01:15:43,640
Also look at the cost of that
distro again, even if you own
1359
01:15:43,640 --> 01:15:46,800
all the distro, even if you have
an all in deal from your
1360
01:15:46,800 --> 01:15:50,080
generator supplier where they
don't charge, OK, you still have
1361
01:15:50,080 --> 01:15:52,320
to provide the labor to lay that
all out.
1362
01:15:52,400 --> 01:15:54,360
And as you know that that can
take a while.
1363
01:15:54,560 --> 01:15:57,280
So when you look at the cost
savings from that stuff, these
1364
01:15:57,280 --> 01:16:01,000
systems should be cost
competitive and a lot of times
1365
01:16:01,000 --> 01:16:02,880
they are.
In fact our entry at the
1366
01:16:02,880 --> 01:16:07,800
Coachella was really about being
production friendly and saving
1367
01:16:07,800 --> 01:16:10,800
cost where they had small hard
to service generators around
1368
01:16:10,800 --> 01:16:15,440
their site than it was
sustainability so.
1369
01:16:15,760 --> 01:16:20,360
Currently the focus is is single
events like festivals and and
1370
01:16:20,520 --> 01:16:24,160
single shows or whatever, but is
there a plan to to work towards
1371
01:16:24,160 --> 01:16:27,640
a touring application for this?
Focus isn't live events.
1372
01:16:27,640 --> 01:16:28,840
Those are the ones who have let
us in.
1373
01:16:29,040 --> 01:16:30,680
Those are the ones who have let
us in so far.
1374
01:16:30,920 --> 01:16:33,040
Really, it is a big cultural
change.
1375
01:16:33,520 --> 01:16:36,840
I understand.
I get it that it is, you know,
1376
01:16:37,320 --> 01:16:41,040
one of the things in our
industry is that is, is, is, you
1377
01:16:41,040 --> 01:16:44,680
know, first thing first that
artist has got to go on those
1378
01:16:44,680 --> 01:16:47,680
curtains have to come up and you
know, they've got to start
1379
01:16:47,680 --> 01:16:49,360
performing at the time that
they're supposed to be
1380
01:16:49,360 --> 01:16:51,120
performing.
And that has to happen, you
1381
01:16:51,120 --> 01:16:57,640
know, every day, 2-3 days for
six weeks a year, right?
1382
01:16:58,120 --> 01:17:01,960
So our entire system in
production management, I think,
1383
01:17:01,960 --> 01:17:03,720
is designed to be very, very
conservative.
1384
01:17:03,720 --> 01:17:06,440
And if you have what works, you
stick with what works.
1385
01:17:07,280 --> 01:17:10,760
We think that there are huge
applications in Turing, and So
1386
01:17:10,760 --> 01:17:13,400
what we're doing with Green Day
right now, I can talk about that
1387
01:17:13,400 --> 01:17:15,000
for a quick second.
Yeah, that'd be good.
1388
01:17:15,760 --> 01:17:18,520
So when we were looking at all
different sustainability
1389
01:17:18,520 --> 01:17:22,120
solutions and, you know, Sean is
a pig pilot, one of the things
1390
01:17:22,120 --> 01:17:25,920
that came up was why can't we
reuse helium?
1391
01:17:25,920 --> 01:17:31,960
Because helium is a it is a non
renewable resource and the
1392
01:17:31,960 --> 01:17:34,520
prices for helium have come up
dramatically over the last
1393
01:17:34,520 --> 01:17:37,240
several years.
So one of the things that that
1394
01:17:37,560 --> 01:17:41,760
that Sean actually designed and
built is a helium recapture
1395
01:17:41,760 --> 01:17:44,480
system.
All right.
1396
01:17:44,720 --> 01:17:48,360
And that is it's it's been used
with Roger Waters, it's been
1397
01:17:48,360 --> 01:17:50,120
used with Coldplay.
It's a slam dunk.
1398
01:17:50,480 --> 01:17:54,440
It allows them to take the
helium out of the inflatables
1399
01:17:54,440 --> 01:17:57,600
instead of venting it, store it,
use it at the next event.
1400
01:17:57,720 --> 01:18:00,680
Works really well for tours and
it gets us out there in the
1401
01:18:00,680 --> 01:18:03,200
touring world.
So you know, one of the reasons
1402
01:18:03,200 --> 01:18:05,520
that that that that we're
pursuing that is to get that
1403
01:18:05,520 --> 01:18:07,720
foothold in there to get the
opportunity.
1404
01:18:07,880 --> 01:18:11,320
It's really easy to show
festivals what we can do because
1405
01:18:11,320 --> 01:18:14,800
I can throw in the back of my
vehicle and we can go Touring
1406
01:18:14,800 --> 01:18:17,800
applications takes a lot more
commitment from the tour itself
1407
01:18:18,160 --> 01:18:19,600
and from us.
We have to provide the people
1408
01:18:19,600 --> 01:18:22,240
and everything.
I I have to say, if there's one
1409
01:18:22,240 --> 01:18:24,880
thing I'm disappointed in,
Marcel, it's that we haven't
1410
01:18:24,880 --> 01:18:28,680
been able to get on a major tour
yet this year.
1411
01:18:28,840 --> 01:18:31,040
And a lot of it has nothing to
do with the industry or the
1412
01:18:31,040 --> 01:18:31,960
tours.
I think that there are
1413
01:18:31,960 --> 01:18:35,240
definitely tours out there who
are very receptive to what we're
1414
01:18:35,240 --> 01:18:37,880
doing.
It's simply that things have
1415
01:18:37,880 --> 01:18:41,440
happened so quickly that we
haven't had time to sit back and
1416
01:18:41,440 --> 01:18:43,720
engage those tours.
But I think that.
1417
01:18:43,760 --> 01:18:47,240
Yeah.
I mean, to me, the obvious thing
1418
01:18:47,240 --> 01:18:51,640
is you need to get in into a lot
more of these top production
1419
01:18:51,640 --> 01:18:54,400
managers because I can think of
a handful of them right now like
1420
01:18:54,400 --> 01:18:56,920
Faye McMahon, who I've already
mentioned being one of them.
1421
01:18:56,920 --> 01:19:01,080
But I, there's, I can think of
five or six whose names I won't
1422
01:19:01,080 --> 01:19:05,560
mention right now, but who are
very, very interested in
1423
01:19:05,560 --> 01:19:11,520
sustainable solutions and would
be Guinea pigs for something
1424
01:19:11,520 --> 01:19:13,480
like this.
As long as they have this
1425
01:19:13,480 --> 01:19:16,400
conversation with you.
Like honestly, having just
1426
01:19:16,400 --> 01:19:18,520
spoken to you for an hour, I
trust you.
1427
01:19:18,760 --> 01:19:21,960
You know what I mean?
Like I trust that my shit will
1428
01:19:21,960 --> 01:19:25,520
work, you know, with you at the
helm, because you guys have
1429
01:19:25,520 --> 01:19:28,080
designed a, a proper system.
You know what you're doing.
1430
01:19:28,640 --> 01:19:31,240
It's so much easier when you
think of scale.
1431
01:19:31,480 --> 01:19:35,080
It's so much easier to build
this sort of technology than it
1432
01:19:35,080 --> 01:19:38,280
is something that's getting
implemented into 10s of
1433
01:19:38,280 --> 01:19:41,640
thousands or millions of cars
that are going to be driven by a
1434
01:19:41,640 --> 01:19:45,520
soccer mom who doesn't need to
or want to understand
1435
01:19:45,520 --> 01:19:47,920
technology.
She just wants to hit go and the
1436
01:19:47,920 --> 01:19:50,880
thing goes right.
And it needs to be safe.
1437
01:19:51,480 --> 01:19:54,680
And so, yeah, I mean, to me,
it's just a matter of time.
1438
01:19:55,320 --> 01:19:58,160
And, and for me really it's that
there I, I need to start
1439
01:19:58,160 --> 01:20:01,000
reaching out to those production
managers and talking to them.
1440
01:20:01,080 --> 01:20:02,520
You know, what's really cool
about what we do?
1441
01:20:02,520 --> 01:20:05,520
And I really do appreciate that.
It's very, very, very cool that,
1442
01:20:05,760 --> 01:20:08,280
you know, we're earning people's
trust and your trust and things
1443
01:20:08,280 --> 01:20:11,440
like that.
But don't take it from me.
1444
01:20:12,360 --> 01:20:16,920
One of my favorite things to say
these days is call anyone at all
1445
01:20:17,280 --> 01:20:19,560
who's worked in Golden Voice
production.
1446
01:20:20,040 --> 01:20:21,720
Who's.
Work with Luck reunions
1447
01:20:21,720 --> 01:20:23,800
production.
You can go ahead and talk to the
1448
01:20:23,800 --> 01:20:25,680
auditorium staff at Luck
reunion.
1449
01:20:25,680 --> 01:20:29,800
I mean at South by Southwest,
you can talk to Sparks now owned
1450
01:20:29,800 --> 01:20:31,640
by Freeman company.
They're the production company
1451
01:20:31,640 --> 01:20:34,880
that did Google IO, you know,
and I don't even have to give
1452
01:20:34,880 --> 01:20:39,200
you a name people who who try
this stuff.
1453
01:20:41,360 --> 01:20:43,040
Well, here's a little statistic
for you.
1454
01:20:43,560 --> 01:20:47,000
Of all of the gigs that we did
last year, our first year, you
1455
01:20:47,000 --> 01:20:50,640
know, our first saw a year in
business, every single client
1456
01:20:50,920 --> 01:20:53,600
not you know, we're, we're,
we're up to, you know, we're,
1457
01:20:53,600 --> 01:20:57,240
we're halfway through the year
now and every single person that
1458
01:20:57,240 --> 01:21:00,600
we worked with last year that's
still doing an event this year
1459
01:21:00,720 --> 01:21:02,960
has come back bigger.
Without exception.
1460
01:21:03,200 --> 01:21:06,080
Nobody has worked with OverDrive
and then said, you know what,
1461
01:21:06,280 --> 01:21:08,440
we're going back to diesel.
Yeah.
1462
01:21:08,840 --> 01:21:09,960
You know what's interesting,
Neil?
1463
01:21:09,960 --> 01:21:13,960
Like, so I was a very early
player in, in commercial LED,
1464
01:21:14,400 --> 01:21:18,080
you know, commercial LED,
similar to battery technology
1465
01:21:18,440 --> 01:21:21,320
was like a bug light for
engineers.
1466
01:21:21,320 --> 01:21:23,680
You know, it, people were just
like, oh, I love this, You know,
1467
01:21:23,680 --> 01:21:28,120
it's, it's green and it's, it's
got all of these wonderful, you
1468
01:21:28,120 --> 01:21:30,760
know, benefits and.
And I go ahead.
1469
01:21:30,760 --> 01:21:31,960
Sorry.
Go ahead.
1470
01:21:32,960 --> 01:21:34,600
Do I remember what I was gonna
say?
1471
01:21:34,600 --> 01:21:36,120
Do you remember when stages were
hot?
1472
01:21:36,840 --> 01:21:38,800
Yeah.
Yeah, no one even thinks about
1473
01:21:38,800 --> 01:21:40,280
that anymore.
Yeah, no, it's true.
1474
01:21:41,040 --> 01:21:44,000
No change the makeup game.
But I'm talking about commercial
1475
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:48,560
LED, like warehouses and hotels
and whatever, like just general
1476
01:21:48,560 --> 01:21:51,920
lighting, right?
And so I started a, a company
1477
01:21:51,920 --> 01:21:58,360
in, in 2004, I think.
And it was in that business.
1478
01:21:59,040 --> 01:22:03,160
And so the whole world was going
this direction of, you know,
1479
01:22:03,480 --> 01:22:06,840
green and sustainability.
And it's, it's better for the
1480
01:22:06,840 --> 01:22:08,560
environment and all of this
stuff.
1481
01:22:09,080 --> 01:22:13,360
And I looked at that and said,
nobody gives a shit.
1482
01:22:13,560 --> 01:22:16,560
Like people who are writing a
check at the end of the day
1483
01:22:16,920 --> 01:22:19,400
aren't writing a check because
it's saving the planet.
1484
01:22:19,600 --> 01:22:21,920
They're writing a check because
it's saving them money.
1485
01:22:22,080 --> 01:22:27,160
So let's focus on the, the
financial details and the
1486
01:22:27,160 --> 01:22:32,240
financial because then that way,
like the cultural shift, forcing
1487
01:22:32,240 --> 01:22:36,800
people to want to care about the
environment if they don't, for
1488
01:22:36,800 --> 01:22:39,680
example, is a really tough
thing.
1489
01:22:39,680 --> 01:22:42,560
You know, it's a really like,
I'll tell you the only reason I
1490
01:22:42,560 --> 01:22:45,720
was interested in the Tesla and
I don't have one, but the only
1491
01:22:45,720 --> 01:22:47,960
reason I was interested in one
because I'm a Motörhead, I'm a
1492
01:22:47,960 --> 01:22:52,520
racing guy, right?
And so when you look at the
1493
01:22:52,520 --> 01:22:56,320
Plaid, the Model S Plaid, The
thing is a freaking rocket ship.
1494
01:22:56,320 --> 01:22:59,240
It's the fastest production car,
I believe, I don't know, maybe
1495
01:22:59,240 --> 01:23:02,840
it's not, but zero to 60 and
what is it, 1.9 seconds or
1496
01:23:02,840 --> 01:23:04,840
something?
It's insane.
1497
01:23:05,320 --> 01:23:09,600
And so that to me is Elon Musk
saying, hey, this thing isn't
1498
01:23:09,600 --> 01:23:12,160
just green, it's pretty fun.
It's.
1499
01:23:12,200 --> 01:23:15,600
Fast and it's really fun.
Absolutely right.
1500
01:23:16,000 --> 01:23:20,040
Go on that example.
We bought a Tesla Model YA year
1501
01:23:20,040 --> 01:23:24,600
ago, 13 months ago.
We've put 30,000 miles on it.
1502
01:23:24,840 --> 01:23:27,920
It's gone the shows in Texas,
it's gone the shows in Chicago.
1503
01:23:27,920 --> 01:23:31,800
And we tow a trailer with it.
We tow a 5000 trip # trailer
1504
01:23:31,800 --> 01:23:33,640
with it.
By the way, the trucks rated
1505
01:23:33,640 --> 01:23:37,840
4000 lbs or the Model Y is.
So we drive all over LA, we tow
1506
01:23:37,840 --> 01:23:40,280
a trailer to the Bay Area.
And people say you're not
1507
01:23:40,280 --> 01:23:42,200
supposed to be able to do this
stuff with electric vehicles,
1508
01:23:42,720 --> 01:23:45,680
right?
We've we've done the we've done
1509
01:23:45,680 --> 01:23:48,160
the work.
The maintenance costs have been,
1510
01:23:48,880 --> 01:23:53,320
well, it's had it needed about
$1000 in repairs because I keep
1511
01:23:53,320 --> 01:23:56,840
on driving it with the 21 inch
sport wheels that it has over
1512
01:23:56,840 --> 01:24:00,520
nails and stuff, you know, and
I've, I've, I've gone through 2
1513
01:24:00,520 --> 01:24:02,240
tires.
So the next tire I'm actually
1514
01:24:02,240 --> 01:24:04,760
going to downgrade to the 19
inch wheels so I can get some
1515
01:24:04,960 --> 01:24:07,520
meteor rubber on it.
That's been the only problem.
1516
01:24:07,840 --> 01:24:11,920
It's and you know, once again,
Oh yeah, I did a calculation get
1517
01:24:11,920 --> 01:24:14,800
we're spending the same amount
of money as a vehicle that would
1518
01:24:14,840 --> 01:24:17,720
that got 85 miles a gallon right
now of gas.
1519
01:24:17,960 --> 01:24:21,640
By the way, we supercharge it
most of the time because where I
1520
01:24:21,640 --> 01:24:27,480
live, I can't get the Tesla into
my back alley to get to my
1521
01:24:27,480 --> 01:24:31,200
backyard to charge, you know, so
there's an example there of
1522
01:24:31,200 --> 01:24:35,200
like, you know, of something
that, that, that when in the use
1523
01:24:35,200 --> 01:24:39,480
case, it actually turns out it's
not sustainability that and, and
1524
01:24:39,480 --> 01:24:41,600
we bought it when, you know,
they had a big price drop.
1525
01:24:41,600 --> 01:24:45,440
I think it was 42 grand.
You're not going to get anything
1526
01:24:45,640 --> 01:24:48,480
that gas, diesel, hamster
powered.
1527
01:24:48,480 --> 01:24:50,480
I don't care.
You're it's very hard to
1528
01:24:50,480 --> 01:24:53,760
envision spending that kind of
money on something that has
1529
01:24:53,760 --> 01:24:55,680
delivered that much value.
And that's the same thing that
1530
01:24:55,680 --> 01:24:58,920
we're saying about this stuff.
And that's, that's when I go
1531
01:24:58,920 --> 01:25:01,840
back to saying the culture part
is really about us going out
1532
01:25:01,840 --> 01:25:05,320
there, doing these jobs,
speaking with people like you,
1533
01:25:06,520 --> 01:25:10,320
sharing the data, sharing what
we do and, and continue to try
1534
01:25:10,320 --> 01:25:11,840
to move this forward because.
Yeah.
1535
01:25:12,280 --> 01:25:14,600
You're not just buying it
because you're going to save the
1536
01:25:14,600 --> 01:25:16,600
planet.
You're you're buying it because
1537
01:25:16,600 --> 01:25:20,280
it's the next obvious evolution
of powering these shows.
1538
01:25:20,560 --> 01:25:23,280
And there's all of these
benefits.
1539
01:25:23,280 --> 01:25:26,800
And, you know, for me, when I
was pitching a half million
1540
01:25:26,800 --> 01:25:31,280
dollar relighting project for a
warehouse or something, it was
1541
01:25:31,280 --> 01:25:34,800
like at #10 was it saves the
planet.
1542
01:25:34,960 --> 01:25:39,000
You know, the other nine were
direct benefits to your
1543
01:25:39,000 --> 01:25:40,680
business.
They were going to help your
1544
01:25:40,680 --> 01:25:42,520
business.
It was safer, better lighting.
1545
01:25:42,520 --> 01:25:46,120
It was saving you money on your
electric bills and paying for
1546
01:25:46,120 --> 01:25:49,840
itself inside a year was doing
all of these other things.
1547
01:25:50,040 --> 01:25:52,920
And Oh, yeah, by the way, you
can say that you're more green,
1548
01:25:53,120 --> 01:25:56,640
you know, but that wasn't my
sales pitch because that wasn't,
1549
01:25:57,080 --> 01:26:00,280
you know, what was going to sell
the most projects at the end of
1550
01:26:00,280 --> 01:26:02,600
the day, you got to tell them
what they want to hear, as long
1551
01:26:02,600 --> 01:26:05,840
as it's truthful.
And you got to, you got to sort
1552
01:26:05,880 --> 01:26:08,520
of come to where they're at, not
force them.
1553
01:26:08,840 --> 01:26:12,240
To I completely agree and you
know, but here this is kind of
1554
01:26:12,240 --> 01:26:16,160
cool too, because sustainability
there, there are tangibles in
1555
01:26:16,160 --> 01:26:20,320
there, right?
Like it is really striking when
1556
01:26:20,320 --> 01:26:24,560
you point out when you realize
that you, Marcel, have never
1557
01:26:24,560 --> 01:26:28,480
been on a festival site without
the drone of generators in the
1558
01:26:28,480 --> 01:26:30,800
background.
Not once until we did luck
1559
01:26:30,800 --> 01:26:35,160
reunion this year and we managed
to make it the, you know, a 100%
1560
01:26:35,360 --> 01:26:37,800
diesel free festival.
Never been on the site.
1561
01:26:38,440 --> 01:26:40,960
You've never been some you.
Go to any major.
1562
01:26:40,960 --> 01:26:44,480
Show and you smell diesel
everywhere you go.
1563
01:26:45,120 --> 01:26:49,280
OK, so there are tangible
benefits that are tied to
1564
01:26:49,280 --> 01:26:51,280
sustainability, but you're
absolutely right.
1565
01:26:51,280 --> 01:26:55,320
Like I, I started this podcast
by saying something that sounds
1566
01:26:55,320 --> 01:26:58,160
controversial, but it's true.
Diesel generators aren't
1567
01:26:58,160 --> 01:27:00,280
particularly good way to make
electricity.
1568
01:27:00,480 --> 01:27:04,360
It's just, it's the best thing
that we had until relatively
1569
01:27:04,360 --> 01:27:06,800
recently.
And getting back to what we're
1570
01:27:06,800 --> 01:27:09,480
saying, these applications like
Turing, I actually think the
1571
01:27:09,480 --> 01:27:12,520
applications in, in Turing are
even even stronger.
1572
01:27:12,680 --> 01:27:15,400
And then outside, you know,
there are, there are so many
1573
01:27:15,400 --> 01:27:18,000
things in construction,
municipalities, government, and
1574
01:27:18,000 --> 01:27:20,840
you're asking about IP, You
know, OverDrive is, is we're as
1575
01:27:20,840 --> 01:27:22,360
much of a product development
company.
1576
01:27:22,520 --> 01:27:25,840
So we're looking at a lot of
cutting edge technologies, we're
1577
01:27:25,840 --> 01:27:28,120
looking at high voltage stuff,
we're looking at direct DC
1578
01:27:28,120 --> 01:27:30,760
stuff, we're looking at new ways
to do safety.
1579
01:27:30,920 --> 01:27:33,520
We're even looking at, you know,
a video I had yesterday was
1580
01:27:33,520 --> 01:27:38,120
about AI enabled tools to help
design and build these things.
1581
01:27:38,120 --> 01:27:41,200
So now let's take the dashboard
that we have that allows us to
1582
01:27:41,200 --> 01:27:44,520
monitor stuff, turn things on
and off, and change a few simple
1583
01:27:44,520 --> 01:27:46,840
things like input current limits
and things like that.
1584
01:27:47,080 --> 01:27:50,000
And can we expand that out to
where you put a CAD drawing of
1585
01:27:50,000 --> 01:27:54,320
your site into our software
package and you put where the
1586
01:27:54,320 --> 01:27:58,320
loads are and it will determine
your different operating
1587
01:27:58,560 --> 01:28:02,160
regimens and things like that.
You know, so there are so many.
1588
01:28:03,200 --> 01:28:05,480
And I, I would say that if, if
anything, that's right now, the
1589
01:28:05,480 --> 01:28:08,240
challenge that we're having is
that there's, you know, it's,
1590
01:28:08,240 --> 01:28:11,520
it's, it's a, a sewer hose to
drink from.
1591
01:28:12,400 --> 01:28:14,160
That's, you know, it's, it's a
fire hose.
1592
01:28:14,160 --> 01:28:16,600
I'm sorry, that's, that's the
word, the fire hose that we're
1593
01:28:16,600 --> 01:28:21,320
drinking from and.
Well, and it's too technical of
1594
01:28:21,320 --> 01:28:24,920
a sale still, probably like when
you can dumb down that sale
1595
01:28:24,920 --> 01:28:28,640
process and get it to where a
production manager could just go
1596
01:28:28,640 --> 01:28:32,600
boom, here's my information, or
a show, whoever, whatever person
1597
01:28:32,600 --> 01:28:37,280
that is, the person who's making
that decision can just stick
1598
01:28:37,280 --> 01:28:41,160
some information into it that
the system requires and it spits
1599
01:28:41,160 --> 01:28:43,360
out, here's what we think you
would need, here's what it would
1600
01:28:43,360 --> 01:28:45,800
cost, here's what it would cost
if you were using diesel
1601
01:28:45,800 --> 01:28:51,120
generators, presumably.
And what if that same system had
1602
01:28:51,280 --> 01:28:53,120
forecasting?
What if it has?
1603
01:28:53,400 --> 01:28:56,720
You know, I'm also on the board
of directors to the Event Safety
1604
01:28:56,720 --> 01:28:58,680
Alliance.
And we do a lot with weather.
1605
01:28:58,800 --> 01:29:02,600
So the big weather suppliers,
DTN, AccuWeather, people like
1606
01:29:02,600 --> 01:29:04,320
that.
They have solar radiance
1607
01:29:04,840 --> 01:29:08,400
forecasting their API.
What if our system actually was
1608
01:29:08,400 --> 01:29:10,920
looking at what the sunshine was
going to be like tomorrow, What
1609
01:29:10,920 --> 01:29:12,640
temperature is going to be like?
What do we think air
1610
01:29:12,640 --> 01:29:15,240
conditioning demands are?
Do we want to leave that unit
1611
01:29:15,320 --> 01:29:19,040
alone or do we want to swap a
new set of batteries before
1612
01:29:19,040 --> 01:29:22,280
doors open because the solar
production isn't going to be
1613
01:29:22,280 --> 01:29:25,040
good enough?
We can automate these things.
1614
01:29:25,040 --> 01:29:28,480
There's so much potential, so
much potential beyond what you
1615
01:29:28,480 --> 01:29:30,480
can do with diesel.
And one of the things right now
1616
01:29:30,480 --> 01:29:34,800
is, you know, we're just trying
to really build awareness and
1617
01:29:34,800 --> 01:29:37,560
show people that this stuff
works so that we can continue to
1618
01:29:37,560 --> 01:29:39,200
grow.
You know, we're fundraising
1619
01:29:39,200 --> 01:29:41,840
right now.
I, I see us as a major player
1620
01:29:42,080 --> 01:29:46,960
and I really do believe that we,
we can build a company that is
1621
01:29:47,640 --> 01:29:50,560
that that's it's toe to toe with
the major power suppliers right
1622
01:29:50,560 --> 01:29:51,840
now.
And let's be clear.
1623
01:29:51,840 --> 01:29:53,840
You'll never get there because
you're going to be acquired by
1624
01:29:53,840 --> 01:29:56,840
one of them.
You know, I still think like if
1625
01:29:56,840 --> 01:30:00,680
I was sitting on the board at,
at cat or, or, you know,
1626
01:30:00,680 --> 01:30:04,680
whatever one of these other
large players, I'd be looking at
1627
01:30:04,680 --> 01:30:06,680
your company right now and
saying, let's buy them before
1628
01:30:06,680 --> 01:30:09,040
they get too big.
But the other problem is going
1629
01:30:09,040 --> 01:30:11,640
to be scaling, you know, and,
and so the fact that you're
1630
01:30:11,640 --> 01:30:16,000
raising money is, is obviously
wise and necessary because there
1631
01:30:16,000 --> 01:30:19,360
will come a moment obviously
fairly quickly where it's like,
1632
01:30:19,360 --> 01:30:24,920
hey, we need to 10X our
inventory and be able to execute
1633
01:30:24,920 --> 01:30:27,560
much more quickly or on more
jobs or whatever.
1634
01:30:27,800 --> 01:30:31,520
We need to widen our footprint.
We might need a building with
1635
01:30:31,720 --> 01:30:35,040
inventory in the Eastern United
States or in Nashville.
1636
01:30:35,640 --> 01:30:37,320
All of that is happening as we
speak.
1637
01:30:37,320 --> 01:30:41,120
We're working on that scaling.
We have had some some great
1638
01:30:41,120 --> 01:30:42,600
results with some of the
fundraising we did.
1639
01:30:42,600 --> 01:30:44,800
Now we're trying to take it to
the next level.
1640
01:30:45,880 --> 01:30:50,360
And you know right now what we
want to do is continue to do
1641
01:30:50,360 --> 01:30:54,880
highly impactful, very visible,
important jobs.
1642
01:30:54,880 --> 01:30:57,720
We're actually not looking to do
everything right now.
1643
01:30:57,920 --> 01:31:00,360
We want to keep moving the
needle and that's what we're
1644
01:31:00,360 --> 01:31:01,680
doing.
So with tours again and things
1645
01:31:01,680 --> 01:31:03,120
like that, we want to keep
moving the needle.
1646
01:31:03,880 --> 01:31:07,320
One, Neil, obviously you know
better than anyone, the last
1647
01:31:07,320 --> 01:31:10,400
thing you want to do is grow too
quickly and screw up a couple
1648
01:31:10,400 --> 01:31:14,120
jobs because that little bit of
bad news, like every time a
1649
01:31:14,120 --> 01:31:17,560
Tesla catches fire or every time
a Tesla bumped into something or
1650
01:31:17,840 --> 01:31:22,320
anything bad, there's so many
people who need and want Tesla
1651
01:31:22,320 --> 01:31:24,640
to fail.
There are some very big
1652
01:31:24,640 --> 01:31:28,120
companies who probably need and
want you to fail right now, you
1653
01:31:28,120 --> 01:31:31,120
know?
And so, yeah, I mean, the last
1654
01:31:31,120 --> 01:31:32,760
thing you want to do is screw up
a job.
1655
01:31:33,360 --> 01:31:35,960
Marcel, that's one of my
struggles right now actually, is
1656
01:31:35,960 --> 01:31:39,560
that, you know, I, I think that
the more people get into
1657
01:31:39,560 --> 01:31:43,680
sustainable energy at this point
in time, the better it is for
1658
01:31:43,680 --> 01:31:45,360
all of us.
I mean, you know, more
1659
01:31:45,360 --> 01:31:48,120
successful sustainable energy
activations from anyone will
1660
01:31:48,120 --> 01:31:51,600
only help us do more business,
gain more business, do more
1661
01:31:51,600 --> 01:31:54,480
things.
But there is a problem and that
1662
01:31:54,480 --> 01:31:56,640
is that, you know, everything
I've been talking about right
1663
01:31:56,640 --> 01:32:00,240
here, right now, what's
happening in other spots with
1664
01:32:00,240 --> 01:32:03,960
sustainable energy is people are
deploying these really large
1665
01:32:03,960 --> 01:32:06,600
battery systems.
They're replacing a generator
1666
01:32:06,600 --> 01:32:09,360
with a big battery or they're
doing what's called hybridizing,
1667
01:32:09,360 --> 01:32:11,920
which they're pairing them.
But they're not resizing things,
1668
01:32:11,920 --> 01:32:13,240
they're not getting rid of
distro.
1669
01:32:13,360 --> 01:32:15,000
They're making things much more
complicated.
1670
01:32:15,120 --> 01:32:19,040
They're making things much more
expensive and they're failure
1671
01:32:19,040 --> 01:32:20,400
prone.
And it's just as it's.
1672
01:32:20,400 --> 01:32:22,600
It's a simple.
I have the exact same problem,
1673
01:32:22,600 --> 01:32:26,920
Neil, in, in LED, you know what,
what, what, what was happening
1674
01:32:26,920 --> 01:32:29,480
is as the market started
growing, you had all of these
1675
01:32:30,040 --> 01:32:34,040
companies just bringing stuff
straight from China, price being
1676
01:32:34,040 --> 01:32:37,320
as low as it possibly could.
And they were either flickering
1677
01:32:37,320 --> 01:32:40,560
or they were a really bad color,
or they made clothing look
1678
01:32:40,560 --> 01:32:43,040
terrible or your skin look
terrible or whatever.
1679
01:32:43,360 --> 01:32:47,640
It was just really a bad
experience for customers who
1680
01:32:47,640 --> 01:32:51,360
then, and I mean, I'm talking
like chains of car dealerships
1681
01:32:51,360 --> 01:32:55,320
or you know, hotel chains, we're
saying we're going back to
1682
01:32:55,320 --> 01:32:57,400
standard lighting.
We're getting rid of all of this
1683
01:32:57,400 --> 01:33:02,600
LED stuff, and I knew better,
but it's a really tough road to
1684
01:33:02,600 --> 01:33:06,840
go along at that point and say
to them, hey, I'm sorry, but you
1685
01:33:06,840 --> 01:33:10,080
just bought bad shit, you know?
And if we were to replace it
1686
01:33:10,080 --> 01:33:11,800
with good shit, you'd be very
happy.
1687
01:33:11,800 --> 01:33:14,160
And I'd love the opportunity to
show you the difference.
1688
01:33:14,160 --> 01:33:17,520
And they're like, no, get out.
Well, now think about this for a
1689
01:33:17,520 --> 01:33:19,960
second.
We've got, you know, put
1690
01:33:19,960 --> 01:33:23,040
yourself in the shoes of those
big tour managers, production
1691
01:33:23,040 --> 01:33:25,000
managers, put yourself in the in
the shoes of big production
1692
01:33:25,000 --> 01:33:27,680
managers.
That generator person from the
1693
01:33:27,680 --> 01:33:31,120
$150 million generator company
that they've trusted for 25
1694
01:33:31,120 --> 01:33:34,080
years is, you know, that's who
they have the relationship with.
1695
01:33:34,080 --> 01:33:37,880
They try something with that
person and it doesn't work or it
1696
01:33:37,880 --> 01:33:39,640
fails.
And this is this is, this has
1697
01:33:39,640 --> 01:33:40,960
happened.
This has happened at multiple
1698
01:33:40,960 --> 01:33:45,000
events this year and last year.
Are you going to really believe
1699
01:33:45,000 --> 01:33:47,400
Neil, this guy you don't know,
saying no, no, no.
1700
01:33:47,520 --> 01:33:49,960
The guy you trust and that big
company that has all these
1701
01:33:49,960 --> 01:33:51,680
resources, they're doing it
wrong.
1702
01:33:51,680 --> 01:33:52,640
They don't know what they're
doing.
1703
01:33:52,760 --> 01:33:57,040
It's us deadbeat old race car
guys from Long Beach who got
1704
01:33:57,040 --> 01:33:58,720
this figured out.
You know it's not.
1705
01:33:59,160 --> 01:34:01,960
It doesn't sound possible too,
which is why our focus again I
1706
01:34:01,960 --> 01:34:03,240
would.
Believe you over them.
1707
01:34:03,760 --> 01:34:07,800
I really want I could tell
within 45 seconds of talking to
1708
01:34:07,800 --> 01:34:09,200
you that you know what you're
talking about.
1709
01:34:09,520 --> 01:34:10,800
I.
Don't want to talk about this,
1710
01:34:10,840 --> 01:34:12,640
I'm a talker.
You figured that out, right?
1711
01:34:13,320 --> 01:34:14,920
You know what?
I'd like to shut up and do a
1712
01:34:14,920 --> 01:34:18,480
show.
That's the best way to move this
1713
01:34:18,480 --> 01:34:21,400
forward.
Every time we deploy these
1714
01:34:21,400 --> 01:34:24,560
things, there's, there's this,
you know, there's nothing better
1715
01:34:24,560 --> 01:34:28,720
than sitting back.
You know that last the the last
1716
01:34:28,720 --> 01:34:32,160
song the show's done.
You know, they leave the stage,
1717
01:34:32,160 --> 01:34:34,800
the house lights come on and
it's like another one.
1718
01:34:34,800 --> 01:34:38,720
You know, that is rewarding and
it's, it's doing things for our
1719
01:34:38,720 --> 01:34:40,680
planet.
I mean, let's not forget that we
1720
01:34:40,680 --> 01:34:44,600
are doing, we're doing good for,
for, for those around us.
1721
01:34:44,720 --> 01:34:47,000
And one more.
Question related to the
1722
01:34:47,000 --> 01:34:50,080
batteries and stuff.
So if you were to do a tour and,
1723
01:34:50,080 --> 01:34:53,480
and let's say it's not a stadium
tour, let's just, yeah, maybe
1724
01:34:53,480 --> 01:34:57,600
it's a stadium tour or whatever,
but you're let's say it's AUS
1725
01:34:57,600 --> 01:34:59,760
tour.
How are they recharging
1726
01:34:59,760 --> 01:35:03,200
batteries in between shows?
Again, there there are, there
1727
01:35:03,200 --> 01:35:06,560
are many different ways and the
same tour can have a different
1728
01:35:06,560 --> 01:35:07,680
approach.
So let me give you a couple,
1729
01:35:07,960 --> 01:35:11,840
right.
So what we did for Billy Eilish
1730
01:35:12,760 --> 01:35:15,400
was we took advantage of the
build schedule.
1731
01:35:15,640 --> 01:35:18,280
They wanted the power of the
show on 100% renewable energy.
1732
01:35:18,800 --> 01:35:23,680
So we brought in battery banks
and we built a solar field.
1733
01:35:23,880 --> 01:35:26,840
Another thing that we, we, we
specialize in is quick deploying
1734
01:35:26,840 --> 01:35:29,600
solar fields.
We put out a 10,000 square foot
1735
01:35:29,600 --> 01:35:31,320
solar field came out of 1/4
truck.
1736
01:35:31,640 --> 01:35:33,440
Four people took 4 hours to put
it down.
1737
01:35:34,200 --> 01:35:39,560
Oh wow, that's incredible. 100
by 100 and that went down on
1738
01:35:39,560 --> 01:35:45,000
like a Monday.
I think the first show day was
1739
01:35:45,240 --> 01:35:48,920
where the doors open on Friday,
maybe it was Thursday and we
1740
01:35:48,920 --> 01:35:52,920
just soaked up the sun for four
days, charged batteries and then
1741
01:35:52,920 --> 01:35:54,520
we could use those batteries to
run the show.
1742
01:35:54,920 --> 01:35:58,880
Let's say that there's a we're
now incorporated to the stadium
1743
01:35:59,560 --> 01:36:02,280
tour and we're working with the
steel crew, OK, We can go out
1744
01:36:02,280 --> 01:36:05,640
there and we can deploy solar in
the parking lot of that stadium
1745
01:36:05,640 --> 01:36:08,120
outside the venue, charge up
batteries.
1746
01:36:08,400 --> 01:36:11,960
And then when production rolls
in, we've got all that energy
1747
01:36:11,960 --> 01:36:15,680
charge that we can then use to
run the production camp outside
1748
01:36:15,680 --> 01:36:17,440
the stadium.
Don't have to bring in a diesel
1749
01:36:17,440 --> 01:36:19,760
generator, don't have to do all
that distro, all that cost and
1750
01:36:19,760 --> 01:36:22,440
everything like that with the
energy that we charge there.
1751
01:36:22,880 --> 01:36:26,080
But if it's cloudy now, we can
take this same unit and we can
1752
01:36:26,080 --> 01:36:28,640
plug it into the grid power at
the stadium and charge.
1753
01:36:29,000 --> 01:36:30,480
Is it as sustainable?
No.
1754
01:36:30,680 --> 01:36:34,120
Does it cost a little more?
Yes, but we can still do it.
1755
01:36:34,440 --> 01:36:36,760
Let's say that.
None of that, let's say, let's
1756
01:36:36,760 --> 01:36:38,280
say that we don't have good grid
power there.
1757
01:36:38,440 --> 01:36:41,320
We haven't even touched on
generator hybridization, But
1758
01:36:41,840 --> 01:36:45,240
this sounds wacky to people.
In fact, I, I got to tell you
1759
01:36:45,240 --> 01:36:48,120
that one of the biggest
production managers in our
1760
01:36:48,120 --> 01:36:52,920
business said to me at a
conference, he said, yeah,
1761
01:36:52,920 --> 01:36:55,960
they're using diesel generators
to to to charge these things.
1762
01:36:55,960 --> 01:37:01,200
I mean, it's just stupid.
And you'll hear that, you know,
1763
01:37:01,200 --> 01:37:05,400
that was my first that, that
that was sort of like a, that
1764
01:37:05,400 --> 01:37:08,160
was a lesson that we have so
much to do when someone at this
1765
01:37:08,160 --> 01:37:11,280
level who has worked with
sustainability and tours is
1766
01:37:11,280 --> 01:37:15,320
saying that because we all know
what Priuses and Chevy Volts and
1767
01:37:15,320 --> 01:37:17,200
other hybrids and you don't want
to talk about that.
1768
01:37:17,200 --> 01:37:20,040
Talk about, you know, the newest
Ferrari hybrids and high
1769
01:37:20,040 --> 01:37:21,160
performance and things like
that.
1770
01:37:21,360 --> 01:37:26,160
They pair an internal combustion
engine with a energy storage
1771
01:37:26,160 --> 01:37:29,440
system to get more efficiency
and better performance.
1772
01:37:29,640 --> 01:37:34,200
The same thing applies.
We can actually reduce fuel
1773
01:37:34,200 --> 01:37:38,240
consumption and increase
reliability substantially right
1774
01:37:38,240 --> 01:37:40,960
now, tomorrow by taking the
diesel generators that are
1775
01:37:40,960 --> 01:37:43,360
already out there and pairing
them with battery systems.
1776
01:37:43,360 --> 01:37:47,880
Yeah, So what I'm saying, by the
way, that's not the best way to
1777
01:37:47,880 --> 01:37:49,360
do it.
I would much rather not have the
1778
01:37:49,360 --> 01:37:52,680
diesel generator at all.
But even when you're using
1779
01:37:52,680 --> 01:37:54,320
generators, batteries are a
benefit.
1780
01:37:54,880 --> 01:37:57,880
So your simple question, how are
you going to charge them on a
1781
01:37:57,880 --> 01:38:00,680
tour?
How do you want to charge them?
1782
01:38:00,680 --> 01:38:01,960
Are we going to hybridize the
generator?
1783
01:38:02,200 --> 01:38:04,120
Are we going to and, and you
know, the best part is you don't
1784
01:38:04,120 --> 01:38:06,200
have to make that decision until
you get there.
1785
01:38:06,840 --> 01:38:08,840
It's not like any of these
things take a lot of.
1786
01:38:10,040 --> 01:38:13,800
It's a complication though, that
that has to be explained
1787
01:38:13,800 --> 01:38:15,960
properly.
Otherwise it's going to become
1788
01:38:15,960 --> 01:38:16,640
an issue.
Right.
1789
01:38:16,920 --> 01:38:19,520
And you know, it's similar to
when you buy a Tesla and then
1790
01:38:19,520 --> 01:38:21,960
your first road trip you go, oh,
this is a pain in the ass.
1791
01:38:21,960 --> 01:38:25,320
I'll never have another electric
car or whatever because, you
1792
01:38:25,320 --> 01:38:29,200
know, you tried to treat it like
a gas car and you tried to do
1793
01:38:29,200 --> 01:38:33,040
things exactly like you would
have with a gas car and it
1794
01:38:33,040 --> 01:38:36,120
didn't work, right.
And so, you know, you have to
1795
01:38:36,120 --> 01:38:38,560
rethink.
You got to change your, your,
1796
01:38:39,360 --> 01:38:41,480
you know, you got to change your
approach a little bit, right?
1797
01:38:42,120 --> 01:38:45,880
Yeah, You know, I think rethink
is is an important way of
1798
01:38:45,880 --> 01:38:48,000
putting it.
We'll go back to that Tesla
1799
01:38:48,000 --> 01:38:51,000
example real quick.
So 30 + 1000 miles in a year in
1800
01:38:51,000 --> 01:38:53,680
this thing, all these Rd. trips,
you know what I learned?
1801
01:38:54,040 --> 01:38:58,680
I have a three hour bladder,
really a 2 1/2 hour bladder at
1802
01:38:58,680 --> 01:39:01,120
highway speeds.
You've got about 3 hours of
1803
01:39:01,120 --> 01:39:05,000
driving time in a Tesla.
I've also learned that I'm I, I
1804
01:39:05,000 --> 01:39:08,880
don't when I, when I sit there
browsing the shelves of the
1805
01:39:09,240 --> 01:39:11,400
QuikTrip after I've waited in
line to go to the bathroom and
1806
01:39:11,400 --> 01:39:13,520
all that stuff, it takes about
25 minutes.
1807
01:39:14,000 --> 01:39:16,160
And that's as long as it takes
to charge a Tesla.
1808
01:39:16,320 --> 01:39:20,440
So even though just like you
said at the first, it seems like
1809
01:39:20,440 --> 01:39:24,680
a pain in the ass, it is
absolutely no impediment.
1810
01:39:24,680 --> 01:39:27,880
And just to put a point on it,
we had, you know, I had, I had
1811
01:39:27,880 --> 01:39:31,200
to fly somewhere and, and rented
a gasoline car and took a road
1812
01:39:31,200 --> 01:39:35,200
trip recently.
And you know, I, I timed myself,
1813
01:39:35,200 --> 01:39:38,880
I was definitely stopping less
than three hours.
1814
01:39:38,880 --> 01:39:42,200
I had about 9 hour drive, you
know, and every time I stopped,
1815
01:39:42,520 --> 01:39:45,760
if I wasn't thinking about
hustling, I was stopped for 2530
1816
01:39:45,760 --> 01:39:47,880
minutes.
So.
1817
01:39:48,680 --> 01:39:50,400
So it wasn't that big of a
change after all.
1818
01:39:50,880 --> 01:39:53,120
So I want to go back to the, I
want to go back to the Apex
1819
01:39:53,120 --> 01:39:57,760
thing really quickly.
So Apex speed technology, from
1820
01:39:57,760 --> 01:40:00,600
what I understand, was it a data
acquisition system that you
1821
01:40:00,600 --> 01:40:04,480
developed or was it electronics?
It was both.
1822
01:40:04,680 --> 01:40:06,320
We did control systems.
Sorry you guys.
1823
01:40:06,920 --> 01:40:09,880
My my other half just showed up
here.
1824
01:40:10,160 --> 01:40:11,280
Cleo.
Hello Cleo.
1825
01:40:11,320 --> 01:40:16,560
Say hi to everyone Cleo.
Anyway, like I was saying, Apex
1826
01:40:16,560 --> 01:40:19,880
Speed technology, we designed
control systems and data
1827
01:40:19,880 --> 01:40:22,800
acquisition systems, which I
use.
1828
01:40:23,240 --> 01:40:27,600
In fact, I've used components
from the Motorsports world quite
1829
01:40:27,600 --> 01:40:29,840
a bit in what we did.
I also had a wiring harness
1830
01:40:29,840 --> 01:40:34,120
shop, so we would build military
spec wiring harnesses for race
1831
01:40:34,120 --> 01:40:38,160
cars and things like that.
So, you know, and a lot of the
1832
01:40:38,160 --> 01:40:41,520
data stuff that we do here comes
directly from that.
1833
01:40:42,400 --> 01:40:45,160
So were you a driver or were you
just a fan or whatever?
1834
01:40:45,160 --> 01:40:46,800
Like what?
What brought you to racing?
1835
01:40:46,800 --> 01:40:50,000
Stuff as a rule, I don't sit
behind the wheel of a race car
1836
01:40:50,000 --> 01:40:56,120
when there's clients around
Yeah, I mean, I, I was, I was a
1837
01:40:56,120 --> 01:40:58,640
driver.
I, I, I, I love Motorsports, I
1838
01:40:58,640 --> 01:41:01,480
love driving and I think there's
a lot of lessons here too.
1839
01:41:01,840 --> 01:41:07,880
I love the, I built this, I
built a couple little project
1840
01:41:07,880 --> 01:41:11,280
cars in my time.
And right now I have this poor
1841
01:41:11,280 --> 01:41:13,920
BMW that sits out there.
It's what I call my Canyon
1842
01:41:13,920 --> 01:41:15,840
Cruiser.
It's done all sorts of engine
1843
01:41:15,840 --> 01:41:19,160
work, suspension stuff.
And when we go out there and
1844
01:41:19,160 --> 01:41:24,320
play in the Malibu foothills or
Angeles Crest or something like
1845
01:41:24,320 --> 01:41:29,920
that, my little BMW, you know,
it, it, it leads the 9/11 turbos
1846
01:41:29,920 --> 01:41:31,560
and all these fast cars and
stuff like that.
1847
01:41:31,560 --> 01:41:34,360
When we go to track days, it
does all this great stuff.
1848
01:41:34,400 --> 01:41:37,840
And I got to tell you, man, like
really gets driven once a week
1849
01:41:38,440 --> 01:41:41,680
because all my parking spots are
taken and I have to move it to
1850
01:41:41,680 --> 01:41:45,320
street cleaning once a week.
So yesterday was that short
1851
01:41:45,400 --> 01:41:49,360
throw shifter on that thing.
I've got this crazy, I start
1852
01:41:49,360 --> 01:41:51,800
throw shifter that, that that
was very limited production.
1853
01:41:52,280 --> 01:41:57,200
Oh my God, that feels so cool,
you know, and, and it's got a,
1854
01:41:57,360 --> 01:42:01,360
it's got a 5 LB flywheel.
It Revs up so fast and like a
1855
01:42:01,360 --> 01:42:03,720
Rev match downshift.
Nothing feels better than that.
1856
01:42:04,280 --> 01:42:05,400
Fun.
Where do you go?
1857
01:42:05,400 --> 01:42:07,200
Do you go to like Willow Creek
or?
1858
01:42:07,680 --> 01:42:08,960
Where Willow Springs, it's been
there.
1859
01:42:08,960 --> 01:42:11,480
It's been or Willow Springs
Willow, it's been a lot of
1860
01:42:11,520 --> 01:42:13,040
places.
But you remember what I said
1861
01:42:13,040 --> 01:42:14,640
before that how often do I drive
it?
1862
01:42:15,280 --> 01:42:17,600
Once a week to move from one
side street to the other?
1863
01:42:17,760 --> 01:42:22,160
Because the simple fact is the
EVs, we have two EVs.
1864
01:42:22,160 --> 01:42:25,160
We have the Tesla Model Y and
then my partner Veronica, she
1865
01:42:25,160 --> 01:42:32,880
has a Fiat 500 E.
They fit the use case of me, a
1866
01:42:32,880 --> 01:42:36,280
business owner with a 13 year
old in Southern California that
1867
01:42:36,280 --> 01:42:41,040
lives in in Santa Monica and has
a workspace in Long Beach and
1868
01:42:41,040 --> 01:42:44,800
does gigs, you know, between San
Francisco and Coachella and all
1869
01:42:44,800 --> 01:42:47,720
that stuff.
Those vehicles, the EVs fit the
1870
01:42:47,720 --> 01:42:52,040
use case so much better that no
matter how much I lose those
1871
01:42:52,040 --> 01:42:54,200
cars and we also have this over
landing rig.
1872
01:42:54,200 --> 01:42:56,640
That's awesome.
But you know what that rooftop
1873
01:42:56,640 --> 01:42:59,000
tent doesn't do me any good on
the four O 5 in traffic.
1874
01:43:01,240 --> 01:43:04,240
The technology that we're
developing is is analogous.
1875
01:43:04,600 --> 01:43:07,600
Are there things about diesel
power generation, everything
1876
01:43:07,600 --> 01:43:09,960
that's that that's really handy
that's helpful.
1877
01:43:10,080 --> 01:43:11,760
Maybe there's not a straight
analogue with the way the
1878
01:43:11,760 --> 01:43:15,080
shifter feels in that 318, but
it's pretty damn cool that we
1879
01:43:15,080 --> 01:43:19,560
can haul this thing out in the
middle of freaking nowhere and
1880
01:43:19,560 --> 01:43:23,640
have 12400 amp services.
That's that's pretty cool,
1881
01:43:23,960 --> 01:43:26,440
right?
So the generator, but but let's
1882
01:43:26,440 --> 01:43:31,920
save our diesel generators for
those gigs where we don't have
1883
01:43:32,120 --> 01:43:34,800
the technical expertise, we
don't have the people we need to
1884
01:43:34,800 --> 01:43:37,640
make a lot of power and we and
we can get diesel.
1885
01:43:38,600 --> 01:43:40,120
Yeah, let's save those
generators for that.
1886
01:43:40,800 --> 01:43:43,280
Are you doing any of the big EDM
stuff yet?
1887
01:43:44,240 --> 01:43:47,960
Yeah, we, we actually, one of
our early things was a little
1888
01:43:47,960 --> 01:43:49,280
festival.
It wasn't, it wasn't big.
1889
01:43:49,280 --> 01:43:51,520
It was at Mammoth Mountain.
It was called Fresh Tracks.
1890
01:43:51,520 --> 01:43:55,240
And it was fun too, because yes,
the batteries do work in 20°
1891
01:43:55,240 --> 01:43:59,480
weather.
You know, it's interesting you
1892
01:43:59,480 --> 01:44:03,480
mentioned that I actually, we
live here in Santa Monica.
1893
01:44:03,480 --> 01:44:06,240
I am, I'm very lucky.
There's this glorious thing
1894
01:44:06,240 --> 01:44:09,160
called rent control, which is
why I live five blocks from the
1895
01:44:09,160 --> 01:44:12,840
beach.
We use electronic music events
1896
01:44:12,840 --> 01:44:15,600
locally as a, as a, as a testing
ground.
1897
01:44:15,960 --> 01:44:17,360
Have a couple of friends who are
DJs.
1898
01:44:17,360 --> 01:44:19,440
You know, I've been involved
with Burning Man and there's a
1899
01:44:19,440 --> 01:44:22,200
lot of electronic music there.
So we bring our gear out to the
1900
01:44:22,200 --> 01:44:24,320
beach in Santa Monica and throw
parties all the time.
1901
01:44:24,320 --> 01:44:27,040
In fact, that's really cool.
We're about, we're doing 1/4 of
1902
01:44:27,040 --> 01:44:29,640
July actually, we're doing
something on Sunday.
1903
01:44:29,640 --> 01:44:31,720
I think it's, it's actually not
electronic music related.
1904
01:44:31,720 --> 01:44:34,640
It's a fitness thing.
You know, we do stuff here in
1905
01:44:34,640 --> 01:44:38,440
our local community a lot.
And electronic music events are
1906
01:44:38,440 --> 01:44:40,840
great are great testing grounds
for this stuff.
1907
01:44:41,160 --> 01:44:44,040
I have a few people I'm going to
connect you to that I think
1908
01:44:44,040 --> 01:44:48,680
could be very helpful and some
really large and, and some maybe
1909
01:44:48,680 --> 01:44:51,000
not as large.
It's OK.
1910
01:44:51,400 --> 01:44:53,160
We have dogs on the podcast all
the time.
1911
01:44:54,360 --> 01:44:56,080
But yeah, I, I love what you're
doing.
1912
01:44:56,080 --> 01:45:00,400
And and if I can ever help in
any way, just, you know, ask
1913
01:45:01,160 --> 01:45:02,720
anything.
I really appreciate this
1914
01:45:02,760 --> 01:45:05,840
opportunity and thanks to your
producer, Jen.
1915
01:45:05,880 --> 01:45:09,480
Right, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.
Thanks to your producer, Sarah.
1916
01:45:10,200 --> 01:45:11,360
Yeah.
You know, for you and your
1917
01:45:11,360 --> 01:45:15,800
audience, I would say, and I've
been saying this for two years,
1918
01:45:16,080 --> 01:45:19,080
give us a chance.
You know, especially if, and
1919
01:45:19,080 --> 01:45:20,520
this is a, this is not an easy
ask.
1920
01:45:20,840 --> 01:45:23,600
I'm asking people at the top of
this industry.
1921
01:45:24,120 --> 01:45:26,680
And the reason why I'm asking
people at the top of this
1922
01:45:26,680 --> 01:45:29,280
industry is because, you know,
unfortunately, we know how this
1923
01:45:29,280 --> 01:45:32,880
industry works.
OverDrive could very well get a
1924
01:45:32,880 --> 01:45:37,760
foothold in farmers markets and
and whatever little shows,
1925
01:45:37,760 --> 01:45:40,240
municipal events.
We're in Hollywood, we can do
1926
01:45:40,240 --> 01:45:43,560
parties all day long and it's
not going to move the needle.
1927
01:45:44,400 --> 01:45:46,760
It's not going to change that
culture that I talk about.
1928
01:45:47,000 --> 01:45:51,360
So please, Marcel, what what,
what, what we really want is the
1929
01:45:51,400 --> 01:45:56,080
opportunity to work with what I
say, highly visible, highly
1930
01:45:56,080 --> 01:45:58,080
demanding, you know,
applications.
1931
01:45:58,240 --> 01:46:01,560
Let the trust that we're
building with the jobs that we
1932
01:46:02,080 --> 01:46:07,000
have done guide you.
We have some partners out there
1933
01:46:07,200 --> 01:46:10,560
who who help make these things
happen.
1934
01:46:10,560 --> 01:46:14,960
A big shout out to reverb.org,
if you haven't heard of them,
1935
01:46:14,960 --> 01:46:17,240
they're the largest
sustainability nonprofit.
1936
01:46:17,440 --> 01:46:18,720
You know what they've done for
us.
1937
01:46:19,320 --> 01:46:23,280
They paid for diesel generators.
They paid to have diesel
1938
01:46:23,280 --> 01:46:26,640
generators.
Billy Eilish at Luck Reunion on
1939
01:46:26,640 --> 01:46:29,040
standby so that if our stuff
didn't work, they could switch
1940
01:46:29,040 --> 01:46:32,920
the generators and go.
And so we have people who are
1941
01:46:32,920 --> 01:46:35,800
even helping us out in that
respect, taking the risk out out
1942
01:46:35,840 --> 01:46:41,520
of the out of the off of the
productions hands.
1943
01:46:41,520 --> 01:46:45,040
Well, I think even Kadena said,
I think Kadena said the first
1944
01:46:45,040 --> 01:46:49,360
time they did the Willie Nelson
thing, they had diesel backup
1945
01:46:49,480 --> 01:46:53,000
and this time they didn't.
What was even funnier too is
1946
01:46:53,000 --> 01:46:54,560
that one of the diesel
generators that they had as
1947
01:46:54,560 --> 01:46:59,560
diesel backups didn't work.
They had died.
1948
01:46:59,560 --> 01:47:02,800
They, we, we, we decided to do a
hybridization thing one day,
1949
01:47:03,360 --> 01:47:04,720
fired up the generator.
It wouldn't work.
1950
01:47:05,080 --> 01:47:08,160
You know, it's gotten to the
point there even where we will
1951
01:47:08,160 --> 01:47:10,240
do that for people who really,
really want it.
1952
01:47:10,360 --> 01:47:12,360
But I don't do that anymore.
I do not back up my shows with
1953
01:47:12,360 --> 01:47:14,160
diesel generators.
We still have backups.
1954
01:47:14,760 --> 01:47:16,880
It's the entertainment business.
People want backups.
1955
01:47:17,120 --> 01:47:18,600
I back up my batteries with
patterns.
1956
01:47:19,640 --> 01:47:23,440
Yeah, we bring more back because
it's more reliable than the
1957
01:47:23,440 --> 01:47:25,560
diesel generator.
Makes sense?
1958
01:47:27,160 --> 01:47:28,720
All right, Neil, thank you so
much.
1959
01:47:28,720 --> 01:47:29,640
I appreciate all your.
Time.
1960
01:47:29,760 --> 01:47:31,520
It's been fun I've.
Learned way too much.
1961
01:47:31,520 --> 01:47:33,560
I feel like I need a nap after
this talk.
1962
01:47:33,560 --> 01:47:37,280
You've, you've put too much
knowledge into my small brain so
1963
01:47:38,560 --> 01:47:40,960
but I'm definitely going to
process it and I'll reach out to
1964
01:47:40,960 --> 01:47:43,680
you soon and and I'll have some
names for you.
1965
01:47:43,960 --> 01:47:46,960
Can I make one more shout out
because you've mentioned a lot
1966
01:47:46,960 --> 01:47:48,920
of production managers.
Do you know Bill Ramey?
1967
01:47:49,920 --> 01:47:55,920
Yes, Bill is all into this.
Bill and I hung out at no values
1968
01:47:56,160 --> 01:47:58,400
come on a couple weeks ago.
I think we're supposed to he's
1969
01:47:58,400 --> 01:48:01,640
coming down for dinner next week
and we're going to sit down and
1970
01:48:01,640 --> 01:48:04,480
talk.
But that's a production manager
1971
01:48:04,480 --> 01:48:07,440
to watch.
Bill is head over heels into
1972
01:48:07,440 --> 01:48:09,240
this.
He was visiting some of our
1973
01:48:09,240 --> 01:48:13,760
vendors and suppliers last week.
So I think you're going to see
1974
01:48:14,240 --> 01:48:16,040
that spreading even at the top
of the.
1975
01:48:16,160 --> 01:48:18,440
But there are guys out there who
are really getting behind us
1976
01:48:19,120 --> 01:48:19,880
very.
Cool.
1977
01:48:20,320 --> 01:48:22,200
I'm excited about it.
I think it's awesome.
1978
01:48:22,240 --> 01:48:26,560
I, I'm so happy that Richard put
us together and, and convince
1979
01:48:26,560 --> 01:48:30,040
you to come on here and I think
we'll be talking more.
1980
01:48:30,760 --> 01:48:33,120
Don't be a stranger, please
watch our socials and things
1981
01:48:33,120 --> 01:48:35,440
like that.
If we're at an event where
1982
01:48:35,440 --> 01:48:38,120
you're nearby, please look us
up.
1983
01:48:38,280 --> 01:48:41,040
If you're in Socal, feel free to
give us a call.
1984
01:48:41,040 --> 01:48:44,840
Look us up.
Last thing I'll say is that if
1985
01:48:44,880 --> 01:48:48,600
if you're doing anything that is
for a not-for-profit or
1986
01:48:48,600 --> 01:48:52,440
charitable thing that is aligned
with what OverDrive does, you
1987
01:48:52,440 --> 01:48:53,640
know it has to align with our
values.
1988
01:48:53,800 --> 01:48:56,560
It also and we have equipment
available for it.
1989
01:48:57,520 --> 01:48:59,800
We'll provide the gear for free
here in Southern California.
1990
01:48:59,800 --> 01:49:01,600
That's beautiful.
So if you have a charity really,
1991
01:49:01,640 --> 01:49:03,840
really like that, give us a
call, OK?
1992
01:49:04,200 --> 01:49:06,200
That's really, really cool.
Very cool of you.
1993
01:49:07,360 --> 01:49:09,080
Thank you, Neil.
Thank you.
1994
01:49:41,640 --> 01:49:41,760
None.